Haircuts

Today was much calmer than yesterday. Nikko was still pretty clingy but there were no terrible tantrums. I didn't say there were no tantrums, just not terrible ones. Nikko even managed to fall asleep on the couch right before Ronin's nap, which I've been noticing is a slight pattern lately. This isn't to say that he will adopt an official naptime around 2pm as Ronin is supposed to, but it's possible that he's getting tired around that time as well. I have given up trying to put Nikko down for a nap because he refuses to be still, to lie down or be sequestered in a room during a daytime nap. It's not worth the trouble, really, since he will sleep when he's tired during the day. It is at nighttime that we enforce him going to bed in his room. The weather looked good today but I couldn't take the kids outside. It was still chilly and I don't have the manpower to supervise all three kids yet, with two of them mobile. I humored the thought of taking them all for a walk, but I know deep down that Nikko and Ronin don't want to be in the stroller watching things go by. They want to get out of the stroller and explore and run around. So, I'll have to wait until I can get a third party to help me out. That's just how it is.

One thing I accomplished today was to give both the boys a haircut. I sat them in the kitchen in front of the laptop playing one of their favorite train DVDs, and put juice and crackers in front as well. A booster seat with a seat belt didn't hurt either. Finally, the vacuum was nearby to clean things up pronto. I think this haircut garnered less mess than usual. Nikko didn't like the clippers near his ears and was less tolerant than last time. I think if I had hauled out a Milano cookie he wouldn't have cared if I were dying his hair yellow. Note to self: next time use chocolate cookies. I used a #5 and #7 blade on his hair. Ronin was antsy at the end, too, but I just had to hurry around his smaller head. Now he looks like Caesar Augustus. #5 and #7 on him, too.

We had the opportunity to go into the basement twice today, once with me and then later with Denis and me. Nikko was doing some jumping like a little frog, but he's not doing it on command just yet. It is nice to see him jump off the ground with two feet instead of stepping off on one. I noticed that he was also galloping around the room. Not skipping, but using a gallop. Don't know where he picked that up, but it looked good. Finally, I have noticed that he hasn't been finishing his meals lately. I don't know if he is not hungry or going through a phase, but it's a little disconcerting.