New hair

Steve, Cooper & Katie this Sunday before church

Until this week, Cooper has had the same hairstyle pretty much since he had enough hair to shape and style. Sometimes it looked like a bowl cut, others like a mushroom. I loved it -- one length, thick, smooth, shiny. He definitely didn't look like most other little boys. (And it was very similar to my hair from when I was 5, which I realize may seem strange and is not what all boys aspire to. But he loved it, too.)

For about three years, we had the best hairdresser -- Sylvia, at a local kids-only shop. She knew how to work around his occasional curls and always finished with a straight, even cut. But she left the state a few months ago, and we've been roaming from one place to the next, in search of a Sylvia substitute.

I took him to a nearby guys kind of place this week, and the woman helping us insisted that he needed something more masculine, something to get rid of the flippiness on the ends.

Me: Well, I don't know. What would you do exactly?
Pushy lady: Oh, just layer it in the back.
Me: Would it look the same in the front?
Pushy lady: Yes, oh yes. I like the length in front. He just needs to look more like a boy.
Me: Oh, I'm not sure about this.
Pushy lady: Really, it will be fine.

The whole time I was thinking in my head, "I'm not ready for any additional drastic changes! It's just hair, and I know it will grow, but can't we just keep this the same?!" But I didn't want to spill out all that turmoil on the lady with the scissors in her hand. And Cooper said he was willing to try something different.

Well, he looks like a completely different person. Handsome and beautiful, of course, but different. Julie noted that you notice his eyes even more. I think it makes him look older, too.

And he loves it, which I know is most important.

Cooper the day after his haircut (dressed as a meteorologist for career day)