With Meilene's 2nd birthday just weeks away, I figured I'd better get her a haircut. I'm a real slacker, but at least it's done.
Here's the before picture:


She was just not amused during the haircut:


The after picture:

We were at gymnastics class last week and there is one thing that all the kids are weary of.  It's this long tunnel, kind of like the ones you use for the cats to go running through and around.  This tunnel is super long and has vents on the side - you know - so that the Parent can encourage the kids while they're going through it.  Well, since Meilene was so weary of it and didn't want to enter, I decided I'd show her how to crawl through and possibly get her to follow me.  So, halfway through the tunnel (I'm army crawling at this point because I'm not as small as I had remembered), Meilene looks through the vents and says "hi mama"!  Here I'm thinking, isn't she supposed to be behind me and following me?  I look forward and she runs to the other end of the tunnel yelling "com'on Mama, com'on" and snapping her fingers and encouraging me to get to the end of the tunnel.  I felt so duped by this less than 2 year old! (yes, I did make it through with much struggling and pulling).

Ever since Meilene was able to hold things, she's always had this obsession with things that are like sticks or beads.  Crayons, toothbrushes, forks, spoons, pens, pencils, straws.  Once she's got a hold of those things, she will never let it go, and she will cry and fuss if anyone takes it from her.  it makes it hard to do any kind of activity with her.  I can't do any coloring activities because she will be done with the coloring part 5 minutes into it, but will never give up the crayons.  I'll ask her if she's done with it and she always replies "nope".  I even give her warnings, ie. in 5 minutes, we're going to put the crayons away and do something else.  When she hears that, she just throws a fit and then it's the end of the world.  We've even let her throw her tantrums and she's gone on screaming and crying for over 30 minutes.  Funny thing is does she even remember what she's upset about after that long because I certainly don't.  Anyway, I've no clue how to get her over her obsessions.  If anyone has any ideas, I'd really love to hear it.

Is it possible to get any shopping done with a 21 month old who's active and wants to run and swing all day?  Today we drove 45 minutes to the next biggest town to look at living room furniture. We spent 2 hours in the store and walked out with nothing! We did narrow down a a recliner that we liked but had trouble matching a love seat to it.  It was weird trying to make such an important decision with a young one who didn't want to let you talk to a salesperson, or sit and test the chairs.  We've never been stroller people and the idea of strapping Meilene down worries me. I just feel like she'd get more energy out if she walked around. Looks like I've created my own monster!