Abby's first haircut!

Some of you have heard/read my complaints about how our stupid carpet sheds little fibers that end up in drifts all over the house, as well as settling into the bottom of Abby's curls. It usually takes me about 20 minutes to comb her hair out after a bath, because of all the fibers tangled in it--and that's AFTER spending a good five minutes pulling out whatever I can before she even gets in the tub. VERY frustrating for both of us. Well, either from my finger nails constantly scraping through her hair to get the fibers out, or because of the shampoo we use, or because she's never gotten her hair cut at all, the bottom bit of her hair in the back was just fried. So when I went in for a cut on my birthday, I lamented to my awesome stylist Alisha, and she said to bring her in and she'd trim the back for free!

So I took Abby in last week, and she sort of freaked out. But Alisha, being totally awesome, totally backed off and offered to take us on a tour of the spa. (The salon is part of an Aveda day spa in downtown Castle Rock.) We were the only people there at 9 in the morning, so she took us all over--through the locker room, through the nail salon where the girls played on the big massaging chairs, through the massage rooms, and then down to the salon to play on the twirly chairs. Abby loosened up a bit during the tour, and when we got back downstairs I really thought she'd go for it. But she didn't. So Alisha made a deal with her. She gave her two of the plastic claw clips they use to pin your hair up when it's long, and told her we could play salon at home until her next appointment, and when she came back she could trade in the clips for some nail polish. Brilliant.

So since then we've played salon, using our playsilks as capes and pinning each other's hair up with the clips and pretending to cut. (Though I actually did cut Abby's hair at one point just to show her it doesn't hurt, since she refused to believe me). And then today we gave it another shot. And it worked! Granted I bribed her with a trip to the coffeeshop for a muffin if she cooperated--I really need to stop doing that.

So when we got there Alisha surprised Abby with one of those washcloths that's all compressed into a little cube. She let us come into the back room where they mix hair color and stuff, and Abby got to sit on a stool and play in the big sink while the washcloth hydrated.



Then we went back to Alisha's station and Abby decided she wanted to stand, while holding my hand, and that I should be the one wearing the cape. So that's what we did! PJ sat on another chair and played with Abby's Nintendo DS the whole time. And when I went to take pictures, Abby was content to play with her new washcloth.



When we were done Alisha admitted she'd forgotten the nail polish, but I promised Abby we'd go down the street to Walgreen's and pick some up. (We did. Hot pink. With sparkles. I'll be sure to get a picture of her nails up soon.) So, knowing she was promised both nail polish and a muffin from the coffeeshop, Abby was calm despite Alisha's blunder.



(Note PJ with the comb--I think she wanted a cut too, actually.)

So when we were there last week Alisha recommended cutting off about 2 inches. When we went in today and she got a better look, she recommended more, given just how damaged it was. It was growing in a V--very long in the middle, and tapering up towards the sides. After promising me the curls wouldn't disappear if she cut off that much, she ended up cutting it even with the shortest pieces that were still in the back. If I'd been thinking I'd have gotten a "Before" picture so you had a good comparison, but I didn't--you know Abby and pictures, they're nearly impossible to get. But just look at how long it still is (and how curly still!) after about THREE inches were removed from the longest pieces:



So now she's got some quality shampoo that should last us quite a while, and I'm praying we'll be done with the carpet-covered curls now that the ends aren't so frazzled that they'll snag anything that floats by them in the air. I can't wait to see how it grows now that it's all even and healthy!