No Longer a Hippie

Getting strapped in by a stranger with sharp objects? Thanks, Mom and Dad ...

So Anderson just graduated from college. Okay ... not really. It just seems like it's been so long since I've given an update that it seems feasible. Busy. When not busy, lazy. We've had company and work has been busy for both of us, but here's the promised haircut update ...

So when I last wrote, Anderson's hair was - as Natalie put it - out of control. I was okay with the long locks and was always a fan of the sixties, but Natalie didn't like the long locks and didn't like my "let's not bathe him for a week and make him into a true hippie" idea, so we decided to get his hair cut. The big question was where.

My family members know this, but most of my friends do not. My father frequently attempted to cut my hair when I was a kid, even going to the point of purchasing a "barbering at home" kit, which he brought home with pride when I was around 5 years old. Unfortunately, as well-intentioned as my father was, he did not also purchase the supplement to this, entitled "*How* to Cut Hair at Home Without Embarrassing Your Kid". His engineering mindset was simple ... the hair is long. I'll cut it. It won't be long anymore. Simple enough, right?

Except that the cut was never even. So he had to balance the other side. And then the other. You can see where this is going, right? Every haircut resulted in a shaved head. I have multitudes of school-age photos that demonstrate my father's barbering technique. Having suffered through this, we decided that Anderson would see a professional.

But what kind? A regular hair stylist can surely cut infant's hair, but we opted for the overpriced kid's specialty haircut. $16 for a stylist to spend 5 minutes cutting the 4 strands of hair that your kid has. And there's always a line, because every family is there taking pictures. Like these ...

Looking at the camera. Inner thoughts? "Someday I'm putting you in a bad nursing home..."

Mom, placing Anderson in a sleeper hold ...

Promising to take him back to Sea World ...
Over. Bring on the women ...

So Anderson now looks more like a little boy that an infant. This is important, as he has graduated from the infant room to the toddler room, where all of the kids are bigger than him. Well, in weight. He still has a head that matches most 3 year olds ...

Thankfully he's leaving the infant room as one of kids has been biting his arm. The day care center makes up "incident reports" and lets us know that Anderson was bitten. They don't, unfortunately, tell us who the culprit is. Natalie and I will be hiring a lawyer in the near future to bring the criminal to justice. This being Texas, we're pushing for the death penalty.

That's all for now ...

Finally ... an update

Disclaimer here. I've essentially stolen my wife's post (we maintain separate sites as she is fearful that her relatives won't understand my sense of humor. Hmmm ... does anyone really get my sense of humor?) and added my comments instead. It's a little edgier, I guess. It's kind of fun to go from the bucket of sunshine she delivers to my sarcasm. So here goes ...

Anderson's likely doing drugs right around now.

Really. Look at the hair. Rapunzel's got some serious locks and needs a haircut badly.



So we went to San Antonio for a vacation in the broiler. First, we got a hotel room on the Riverwalk at the Marriott, which was right next to where "Coolio" was putting on a free show. Remember "Coolio"?

Me neither.

Anyway, we walked right by the concert and saw the Alamo, where all sorts of interesting people come to play.
This is a real person with a "Free Hugs" sign. We didn't partake. Nor, actually, did anyone else in the 5 minutes we were near him. Scary. Still, we were at The Alamo and Anderson enjoyed taking in the historical significance.
Okay. That's a lie. I maintain that the most disappointing place to visit in America is The Alamo. First, it's a tiny little fort in the middle of a city that dwarfs it, making it seem even smaller. There's also a lot of stuff that isn't original, mainly because the Mexican Army blew the fort to smithereens.
People don't use the word "smithereens" as much as they should.
Finally, the presentation of The Alamo itself is boring. You don't really get a sense for what happened and have to watch the IMAX movie across the street to really appreciate the significance.
But we dragged Munchie's butt there in the 100 degree heat.
There best part of the trip was the Children's Museum. Anderson got to play with tons of things, including a big, unrealistically fake rooster ...

A big fake cow udder...
The real winners were the fish. He got very excited and started squealing loudly when he saw them swimming around. The squealing continued for 5 minutes and I believe he actually frightened the fish.
Anderson also had his first swim in the hotel pool. He braved the floaties well - and tolerated the size 3T swimsuit. Note that it doesn't even remotely fit him. Still, we give him props for not polluting the pool.

We then roasted at Sea World. Anderson wasn't as amused by the sea lions show as much as I was. In fact, I kept handing Anderson off to Natalie so I could see the show. A gripping caper ... who stole the fish? Cliffhanger, I tell you. More plot than a Lindsay Lohan movie ...
Note the Shamu doll. Won by yours truly at the arcade (admittedly, it was a "play until you win" game, but I won nonetheless ...)

Our favorite picture of Anderson yet ... he's actually starting to look like a little boy ...

While I was away, Natalie went to a party (me being away was likely a party in itself, but this was an actual party) and snapped a couple of good shots ...

That's it. Next up ... Anderson's first real haircut ...