A Hattie Update

She................

got her first real haircut.  I have trimmed her hair in the past, like when I was in labor with Ben ......... but refused to believe I was in labor with Ben ............ so I trimmed her hair to take my mind off of the contractions, which weren't real contractions because I wasn't in labor ............ but it didn't really work.  They just kept on comin'.  And then I realized what I was feeling were real contractions and I was, in fact, in labor and needed to go to the hospital pronto, but now I had to finish cutting Hattie's hair before I could go because I had already started the job.......... not the best idea I ever had.

So, like I said, I recently took her for a real haircut.  To a cheap place close-by.

The haircut was $11 which was awesome, but then I had to spend 20 minutes improving upon the $11 crooked haircut with my own haircutting skills, which aren't really that skillful.  Moral of the story: splurge for a better haircut or recruit Aunt Laurel, who is the official hair-cutter in our family, for future haircuts.

- will be starting kindergarten in the fall.  We are in the midst of deciding where she's going to go.  Public school is an option, as long as she gets into a good program.  In my heart of hearts I want her to go to Catholic school, but that can be expensive.  Luckily there is scholarship money and financial aide out there for middle class people like us.  We are in the midst of all of the paper work and testing and interviews and application fees - oy!  Who knew starting kindergarten would be so much work?!?  We should know something by March or April.

 I can't believe we are already at this point.  She will be a young 5 when she starts kindergarten, and I know it's popular to hold summer babies back, but even at the beginning of this school year, her teachers, who have been working with her since she was 2, so they really know her abilities, have assured us that Hattie is ready for kindergarten.  So we are going to trust their judgment and our own and send her next year.  We'll have to go through this in another 2 years with Mary Ellen who is also a summer baby.  Luckily Ben is a no-brainer fall baby.

- has her first real crush.  His name is Gabriel.  He's in her class at school.  The first time she ever described him to me, she said he had brown beautiful skin and I'm going to marry him, Mama.  One of the Catholic schools we are currently looking into, is an all-girls school.

- is learning to ride a bike.  Santa brought her a princess bike for Christmas, and weather permitting, she enjoys riding it down the street with Mom or Dad.

- says her brother is a boy because he has a hangy ornament on his bottom.  There's your anatomy lesson for the day =).

- is a perfectionist like me.  She needs things to go her way precisely, or she crumbles.  If she can't do something perfectly, she immediately gives up or doesn't try it at all.  I am displeased that she inherited this trait from me.  She's got a loooong, hard, imperfect road ahead of her.  I know.  I done been down it and still struggle down that road.

- is social and makes friends easily.  She will go up and talk to anyone.  Whether she really knows the person or not.  This is both good and scary.

Stay tuned for a Mary Ellen update.  Because, contrary to how it may seem, I am not trying to deepen her middle child complex.