A Few Firsts (Haircut, Chocolate Milk and...)

Last Thursday (not yesterday) was a day of several firsts in our family.

I.
Linton, my youngest son, has very fine and curly blonde hair, so he didn't really need a haircut until now, at 29 months, when his hair was getting way too long and right before winter when the heated air will make his hair straight (as it makes mine) and falling on his eyes. I was kind of sad to see it go, if I had my way, both of my boys would have long hair. People do keep referring to them as "she," and even asking my older boy whether that is his "sister," so I have to relent and Kelvin does have a haircut once in a while. In the end of last year we did let him have longer hair and he'd proudly tell anyone who cared to listen that he was letting his hair grow. Therefore, I wasn't really looking forward to the day when my "baby"'s hair would have to be cut.

Before (you can click on photos for larger view): I guess he really needed a haircut...

and

After (these are a bit blurry and didn't work well because Kelvin made Linton cry -- a common occurrence in our lives): Just so you know, he didn't sit on the chair like that for the haircut. He didn't want to have his hair cut, even after seeing his brother (who sat on a booster) and I have ours. So I had to hold him in my lap (facing me) while the hairdresser cut his hair from the back. We were both covered in hair and I was only able to gather a few strands afterwards to save.
He's crying here because his brother is trying to lower the chair and he is scared.

II.
The second "first" is a bit less exciting, and so far it hasn't happened again. We try to eat healthy here at Casa in Translation, eating "whole foods" as much as possible and avoiding processed foods. We're ovo-lacto vegetarians (we do eat fish once in a while), and even though we do eat sugar and often have some chocolate or ice-cream for dessert, I try to avoid it so the boys won't get addicted to sweet stuff. For some reason, that afternoon, both boys started to ask for, or actually, demand, chocolate milk, which they had never tasted -- they generally drink vanilla soymilk with nothing on it (or, once in a while, the 2% milk that their daddy drinks). So I served them mugs of soymilk with Milo, which is a chocolatey and malt mixture similar to Ovaltine* that we had at home and they really liked it. They haven't asked for it again yet, but I know that it'll happen soon :)

* I just can't stand American Ovaltine, it's awful. In Brazil it's called "Ovomaltine" and it's delicious, there is a chocolate flavor and one that's only malt flavored. My dad says that the
American brand just isn't Ovaltine AT ALL.

III.
I wish I could be like Jo(e) and able write posts like this one (which is brilliant by the way and has very helpful suggestions for parents of teenagers :) ) and not feel embarrased, but for some reason I can't. I'm not too shy about this in real life (I have even shared this story with my SIL, who was actually a bit traumatized from a similar experience when she was 5 years old), but for some reason I'm very hesitant to post it for the whole world to see (that is, the 30 or so people who read my blog). Anyway, I'll try...

The third "first" happened before the other two (I'm going backwards here), in the middle of the night, between 2-3 a.m. We've been going to bed really late because of my husbands' trips, and we were still up, getting busy in bed when we heard a little boy (our 4 year old) walk softly into our room and ask, confused, "why are the lights on?" Well, good thing we were under the sheets and he didn't really see anything. He was half asleep anyway, and climbed into bed with us while we quickly turned off the light. Daddy then got up and brought him back to his bedroom. Needless to say, we're locking the door now.

Anyone out there brave enough to share a similar tale? :)

(and now, after editing this post -- adding photo of Milo, changing its position 4 times, correcting typos, I'm off to drink my own glass of soymilk and Milo, since I haven't had anything to eat yet)