She Just Keeps Growing Up

Somehow, time keeps on flying by and my kids just keep getting bigger and bigger, despite all my protesting. Just a couple of weeks ago, Ellie reached two significant "big kid" milestones: her first haircut, and moving out of her crib!

We took Ellie to a local kids' hair salon for her first haircut the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. First, we snapped a couple of before pictures:

Farewell, original baby locks!

The salon was perfect. When we first arrived, they asked Ellie if she wanted to pick a movie to watch. Naturally, she selected a Doc McStuffins episode. Instead of chairs to sit in, they had a selection of vehicles, and Ellie chose to sit in a fire truck. (E.J. preferred the pink convertible - TO PLAY IN, because nobody is touching a fuzzy hair on that head!)

Ready for her haircut!

Offering moral support to his sister from a pink Cadillac

Before starting in on her hair, they pampered her a little with glitter polish manicure.

She feels so fancy right now.

Then they sprayed her hair with water (her least favorite part of the whole thing) and gave her a quick trim.

Now that's the way to get your hair cut!

When she was all trimmed up, they gave her a braid in the front and let her pick two hairclips to accessorize with. She chose two glitterly, colorful butterfly clips. They topped off the whole 'do with a sprinkling of glitter and she was done!

Glitter in her hair!

Showing off her braid - "I look like Anna!"

Then they gave her a certificate and a lock of her hair to make it really official. I was quite proud that through the whole thing, I didn't shed one tear! But she is so grown up. I have spent the last two and a half years lamenting her baldness but now she's out to the salon to get her hair done. SLOW DOWN, TIME.

So official!

When we got home, we got some after shots.

You could tell the difference the most in the back. They did just what I wanted - keep as much length as possible (we worked hard for this hair!), but clean it up.

So pretty!

The other big milestone for Ellie was the move from four-sided baby crib to "big girl" toddler bed. We've been talking about doing this for a while, but I was on Team Crib For Life for a long time. She was just sleeping really well and had never shown any interest in climbing out, so why mess with a good thing? Well, lately her naps started becoming more sporadic (she naps every couple of days or so), meaning we had less to lose, so we went for it.

When we got back to Jacksonville after our Thanksgiving travel, Eric removed the front rail of Ellie's crib and replaced it with the matching toddler rail. I made up her new bed with the new Doc McStuffins bedding we bought for her and read and re-read the Elmo "big kid bed" book to drive the whole thing home.

Ellie's new bed!

She's ready to sleep in her big bed!

I'm not sure if it was one or all of those strategies that made the most difference, but Ellie took to her big girl bed like it was nothing. She has had absolutely no nighttime issues whatsoever. The first night she slept straight through the night, and when she woke up in the morning, she just climbed out to get some books then tucked herself back into bed and did a little reading until we went in to get her. What a sweetheart!

Reading in bed after her first successful night as a big girl!

Look at all those books she read!

Naps have been a little more hit-or-miss, but hey, they were when she was in the crib anyway. Actually, it's possible that she's been napping slightly more now in her big girl bed than she was before. Some days she'll just play for the whole "naptime" (but still remains happily in her room by herself), other days she'll play for a bit and then lay down when she gets tired and fall asleep. On one occasion she just went right to sleep. I figure, though, no mattter what she's doing in there, she's getting some low-stimulation solo play time and I'm getting a break to recharge. I also enjoy watching her on the video monitor and laughing at her antics!

Ellie's first naptime including lots of wandering around, dressing her doll and riding her toy horse. Boy, did Eric and I nearly die laughing when she galloped past the monitor on that horse!

Day 2 naptime activities: Playing with her dinosaur,;up close and personal princess; rocking her crown, tutu, polka dot leggings, Elmo Halloween bucket and wand; and SLEEPING! Praise be!

A regular naptime sight

So, there you have it: first haircut and big girl bed. Next up: driver's license and college applications. It's going too fast!