Jameson's Haircut

Jameson had his first haircut on Sunday, from his great-grandfather!

But, really, it was a little unplanned. After all, in the morning, before the trip, I was pretty adamant. NO HAIR CUTTING FOR JAMESON. I didn't want to lose those curls. But Stefan softened me up a little. And after discussing it with my mother-in-law, I started to think that maybe a tiny trim would be okay. You know, his bangs. And a tiny bit off the back. Ceremonial, really. But no cutting curls. Nope, not ever, if I can help it.

So we drove off to Flushing. For the first bit of our visit, Pop did the ceremonial "squeezing" of the boys... (imagine "come here, Alex, I need to squeeze you" in a Ukrainian accent). Alex is pretty used to this, and settled right in on Pop's lap. Jameson, just waking up from a car nap, took a little longer to warm up, but eventually was convinced to sit in Pop's lap too.

Then we moved out to the barber shop and Alex got his haircut. He's an expert these days, no more crying or needing to sit on someone's lap. He even issues his own orders--taper in the back, part on the left, etc. He looks like a handsome little man up there in the chair, and Pop indulges him. (however, he does return to boyhood as soon as the cut is done, in choosing his dum-dum lollipop and negotiating for an extra one for the ride home)

During Alex's first hair-cut, at about 20 months (same age as Jameson!) he was a little tearful and scared. During his second, he screamed!! Here he is, in 2003, looking about as calm as he did during those first few cuts.

With Jameson, though, we have a secret weapon: Alex. Jameson usually wants to do anything Alex does. Mostly, this gets us into trouble. Alex, you really can't stand like that on the furniture, because your brother is starting to do it to.... Alex, stop jumping down the last few stairs, Jameson can't do that yet but keeps trying.

Today, though, we employed this to our use. Jameson was thrilled to go up into the big chair, just like Alex. And we convinced Alex to stand on the foot stool of the chair, and Jameson was thrilled with the attention from everyone in the group. We whipped out the camera and the video camera and the grandparents were on their feet, ready to witness the special event.

Just a tiny trim, Pop, okay?? Just ceremonial. Not a real cut.

Hah. Famous last words.

Instead of pulling out the scissors and doing the ceremonial trim, as I had envisioned, Pop pulled out the clippers and started in on those beautiful curls on the back of his head!!! I'm afraid to listen to the video, as I was trying to communicate my dismay without a) scaring Jameson or b) ruining the video.

Pop, watch his curls!! Be careful of the curls!! Just a tiny trim, Pop! Ooh... good boy Jameson, you are doing great. Pop, watch those curls!!

I should have know better, really. He can't be a barber for over 50 years and not learn at least a few things. By taking off a tiny bit of length in the back, Jameson now has a delightful little fluffy fringe of curls covering the back of his head. His bangs are trimmed up a bit, and he just looks more boy-like. Just as Alex did, at the same age.

When it was finished, we took the traditional picture of four generations of Szumko males:

Clearly, Jameson had mentally moved on from the haircut and was making plans to try to take Alex's lollipop.

And so we got him down and gave him his own lollipop. For those Szumko boys love their treats.