Dakota's First Haircut

Dakota finally got her first haircut! Funny how Jaxon's first haircut was at the age of 10 months, but for Dakota we were able to wait 2 1/2 years before cutting her hair for the first time! Her hair has grown very healthy and it has a great, soft texture, so the haircut was only to even things up a bit. We called our friend, Stephanie (different Stephanie from the one who did Jaxon's first haircut), and she was excited for the challenge. Not that a first haircut is a challenge, but with silly Dakota, we really weren't sure what to expect.

We were about to walk out the door, when Dakota came running to me, holding a pink dress. I asked her what this was for and tried hurrying her along out the door, but she stubbornly told me, "I have to change into my haircut dress!" I don't know a single parent that would have argued with that. We quickly changed into her "haircut dress", sparkly silver tights and boots. On the drive to the salon, Jaxon was equally excited about Dakota's big night and had a few questions of his own. "Mom, will Dakota get a 2 on the sides and 4 on top like I do?", he asked this straight-faced. Because why wouldn't every haircut be done with clippers and shouldn't every 4 1/2 year old memorize what size guard is used when they get their hair cut? We got quite a chuckle out of this and after much explanation, he still had some trouble understanding how else she would get her hair cut and why it wouldn't look right for her to have the same haircut as him.

Well, her first cut came not a moment too soon. On the drive to the salon, she somehow managed to get an entire piece of gum stuck in her hair! (Side note: yes, it is on my "I will never let my kids..." list to not give gum before age 5, but her brother handles it just fine so why not give in to her begging and crying for a piece.) For the record, she has been chewing gum since this summer, and this is our first in-the-hair-castrophe!

Of course Miss Dakota wanted to sit at the sink and get her hair washed like a big girl!

Here's Ms. Stephanie patiently working the gum out of Dakota's hair, one strand at a time!

Ahhh, I think she is officially ready for her first spa day with Mama!

Such a big girl!

At some point she noticed an animal-printed apron that matched Ms. Stephanie's, of course she needed that!

Sitting under the big girl dryer!

Someone else needed to try out the big dryer too!

There happened to be a light drizzle coming down as we were leaving the salon. Dakota immediately raised both hands over her head and in a panicked voice said, "Mommy hurry, I can't let my haircut hair get wet." Ahh, just a little more proof that she is my daughter!