I'm not a girl! I just have fabulous hair.

That was the rally cry around here recently, as more and more people (mainly, little old ladies) kept referring to Sam as "her" and saying how pretty she was. I would politely say "thank you" and move on. Adrian, on the other hand, made sure to correct them and walked away with his head held high...and, we're assuming, with the women thinking it was a crying shame that no one got that poor little boy a haircut.



I liked his "crazy hair" and the "no worries" look it gave him. Wouldn't it be nice to have that "no worries" look and feeling, if even for a day? But, it was starting to get a little long in the back and, in my opinion, we were nearing official mullet stage. An absolute no-no. So, we teamed up with Sam's friend Davia (Princess Leia, for those of you keeping track) and her mom and dad and headed out to Cookie Cutters, a hair cuttery geared specifically for tots and complete with a slide, video games, toys, movies, cartoons, and fun things to sit in while getting coifed. Davia elected for a pink truck, while Sam opted for your standard red fire engine. She seemed to handle it okay - we're assuming it was the X chromosome - while Sam didn't want any part of it. None. Zero. Zilch.

We managed to get through the entire haircut, though, thanks to Dad's comforting (read: holding him down). I think he ended up looking a little less carefree and a little more "dork," but I suppose it will grow out.

The holidays were fun, although Sam didn't enjoy the opening of presents as much as we thought. We had grandiose ideas of him getting excited and tearing off the wrapping paper, anxious to see what each package held in store. Instead, he played with Louie's leash, walking around and around. Didn't care about paper-ripping, didn't care too much about new toys, but had a hell of a time lapping the kitchen with an old red leash. If I would've known, I would've gotten Louie a new one.

We did enjoy New Year's Eve, celebrating the holiday with children for the first time. Again, we got together with Team Davia and had a great time. Compared notes about our tots, gossiped about daycare and found the Captain and Cokes and beer going down surprisingly easy. We called it an early night about 10 p.m., so the kids weren't total monsters in the morning. Adrian and I "celebrated" by watching the ball drop and were both asleep by 12:15 a.m. Happy New Year!


Chicago has seen a fair amount of snow this year, so we've made sure to introduce Sam to the white stuff. We've pelted him with his first snowball (he laughed), showed him how to throw them to Louie so he eats them, and gave him a sled ride. With a lot more winter still to come, we're talking with Louie about the possibility of a harness to pull the sled. He's not excited, but we're negotiating. He's demanding that the kid stop messing with his dog food and quit chasing him with his tyke-sized vacuum. We're not sure we can agree to those terms. Talks are stalled.

In the meantime, Sam waits for his cousin's arrival.....("Hurry so we can play!")