Here a Snip, There a Snip

Alright, alright.  After privately and publicly resisting and hedging questions about when we were going to trim James' hair, I finally relented.  His bangs were in his eyes, his ears were covered by what Mark calls "Ben Franklin sideburns" and he still had long strands that stood up in the back with his cowlick.

Thirty+ years ago, a hair-stylist and friend of Grandma IJ gave baby Mark his first haircut. Roi offered to also give baby James his first cut.  Roi's salon, (Salon Roi, actually) is something of a DC landmark near the Woodly Park metro, notable for the mural of Marilyn Monroe on the side.  Quite a chi-chi locale for baby's first 'do.

Thank you, Auntie Janice for James' cool CBGB duds :)  He felt right at home in Salon Roi!

Granpa and Glamma couldn't wait another weekend to see James again, so they brought a quick lunch (a.k.a. bribed us with food - works every time! ) and accompanied us to the salon.

That evening, we joined the Armstrongs for burgers at their house in the neighborhood.  Reagan is only 6 weeks older than James and already walking!  Oy - hope James hasn't picked up any tips.

James has been passing milestones of his own this week.  He turned 9 months old on Tuesday; on Wednesday he went in for his 9 month check up.  No shots this time, but we had to get blood drawn to check for lead and anemia.  James was so tired after waiting long after he normally would have gone to sleep for his morning nap that he didn't fight much when it was finally his turn.  What could have been a nightmare was surprisingly easy.  Such a good boy!

Wednesday morning he clapped his hands for the first time...now he does it all the time:  for dropped cheerios, for a favorite toy, for a visit from kitty.  He weighed in this time at 21 lbs 1 oz and 29 inches tall and is still tall for his age and weight.   He's pulling up on everything now - and on Thursday, he let go to stand on his own for a moment.  On Friday, he waved to me for the first time and said "buh bye".

On Sunday we attended another first birthday party in the neighborhood and saw all of our pals for a few hours. James had a rough day though and I suspect that his bottom front teeth are finally on their way through - he's having trouble sleeping, is fussy, gnawing and chewing everything he can (mostly his own fingers) and the drool seems to have redoubled.  We'll keep everyone posted...