Favorites, Rainbows, and a New 'Do

I asked Claire awhile ago what her favorites were, and here's what she said:

Color: Purple
Animal: Lion
Number: 2 (naturally)
Letter: C (also naturally - she spots them everywhere - "HEY, that's a C for ME!")

She's also since told me that the Alphabet Song is her favorite song, but I think that depends on the day. She just loves music in general. Purple and lion surprised me (I would have said pink and dog or cat), but again, it probably depends on the day. "Go, Diego, Go!" is hands-down her favorite TV show, and she's told us so.

I took Claire to the Kauffman Foundation one Saturday afternoon, and the rainbows were out in full force. There are skylights in the ceiling of the main entryway and staircase; each skylight has a prismatic tube across it (triangular and filled with some sort of oil), so that when the sun is out and at the right angle, beautiful rainbows hit the wall and floor. Claire was absolutely enchanted and enjoyed running through the rainbows. Then she talked about it for the rest of the day, confusing but captivating everyone she met. "I ran through the rainbows, and they came back!" (The sun went behind a cloud, so they went away and did come back.) It was a memorable moment for both of us.

Running with absolute joy...and a sippy cup

A month or so ago, Claire decided to stop letting Mommy doing her hair. "NO! No ponytail!!" If I put a ponytail in her hair she would cry and rip it out. Her hair is so cute long, but with it down all the time it would last about 10 minutes and then would turn into a total tangled rat's nest. The solution? A haircut. She was actually very excited about getting her hair cut, as long as it would be Miss Brenda doing it, not me. Her teachers tell me all her friends like to do her hair at school - maybe that's why she wants it down. They say she doesn't mind a bit and usually reads while they play.

THE BEFORE:

This how I send her to school in the morning (front)

(back) It had gotten really long...

 And this is how it looked by the end of the day (a surprisingly tangle-free day, actually) - still cute but quite a mess

We went to the salon yesterday and she had a GREAT time. I was pulling her hair back while we waited to see how much we were going to cut, and she said, "No, not Mommy, Miss Brenda." Can't win. Here's the actual cut:

She loved climbing into the chairs "all by herself"

Miss Brenda starting to cut. She clipped part of Claire's hair up and Claire said, "Hey, a ponytail!" *sigh*

Doing a big-girl chin tuck

Claire did GREAT in the chair. She sat very still and did what Brenda asked her to do. So grown-up...

I had asked for shoulder-length, but Brenda didn't think that would be low-maintenance enough, so it ended up chin-length. It is still very cute (hard to go wrong with that face) and will be much cooler and out of her way for summer. She really likes it, which surprised me a bit. I thought there might be some remorse, but nope! Maybe the post-haircut chocolate had something to do with it... =)


THE AFTER:

Giving Miss Brenda a post-haircut hug

Modeling her new 'do (and her belly - a new thing with Claire for some reason)

 The day after (after a morning comb and several hours of playing and errands) - it held up pretty well!

From the back

She even told a couple of people at the store and the library about her haircut experience, so she must have had fun.

Happy Memorial Day!