More than just a haircut

My sister cut Sophia's hair for the very first time. I think she likes her new "do."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Easter was this weekend. It was cute and we ate lots and lots of candy and hunted for Easter eggs. But the real star of the weekend wasn't the Easter Bunny, it was Sophia's first haircut.

It's taken her 20 months to grow enough hair to justify a haircut and once we decided it was time to cut it, I couldn't wait for it to happen. In fact, I've been bugging my sister for months now to cut her hair.

One of my sister's many talents is cutting hair, so it was important to me that Carol was the one who gave my daughter her very first haircut. Plus, I was certain Sophia would freak out during the process and I thought if Carol did it, the whole experience would be much more tolerable and hopefully make the hair cut experience a pleasant one.

On Saturday, my sister drove more than 300 miles to my house with her two sons for our pre-Easter dinner and to cut Sophia's hair. At about 3 p.m., my parents also came over and we were all together, ready for the big snip.

We sat Sophia at the table and handed her a piece of white chocolate (her favorite special treat) and my sister got to cutting. With a comb and scissors in hand, my sister cut the first lock of hair and handed it to me and I started crying like a baby.

This reaction was completely unexpected and I couldn't stop it. I didn't stop crying until the haircut was over. So, with my entire family laughing hysterically at my crying, we cheered Sophia for sitting like a big girl while my husband handed her one piece of chocolate after another. We videotaped the entire haircut and probably took 50 pictures.

By the end of the haircut, Sophia was hopped up on sugar and ready to run around and play with her cousins.

Sophia's hair looks beautiful and I learned how emotional something like this can really be. This haircut symbolized my little baby girl becoming a big girl. Her little baby curls that fell exactly where nature put them are now little bangs. It also symbolized the day I realized I am going to HAVE to learn how to do something with her hair besides brush it.

Sophia will never remember this haircut, but I will never forget it. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I'm pretty sure if my sister couldn't cut hair, Sophia would never have gotten a haircut. I think Sophia was happy with it too.