A new haircut for my big girl.

Last Thursday, while we were having a drink at coffee shop, I casually suggested to Gabriela that we take her for a little haircut. Technically, this would be her third cut. When she was one, she pulled out  nearly all the hair on one side of her head so Lane evened it out. More than a year ago, I gave her an uneven trim, long enough to make all those sweet baby girl ringlets disappear and for me to cry about it (thank goodness I saved one).  But this would be the first time someone else would cut my baby's hair. Gabriela immediately agreed and announced she wanted her hair cut thiiiiiiis short, putting her hand straight to her chin.  I admit it, I got a little woozy.

After some deep breaths and asking her a few more times, I realized Gabriela had her mind made up. As much as I wanted to convince her that she didn't really want short hair, I decided to respect her decision. Let me just say it wasn't easy.

We walked to the beauty college and I started panicking a little. I envisioned Gabriela shrieking while having her hair washed and brushed, questioning the qualifications of the lady about to cut all my baby's hair off, and wondering if Gabriela would change her mind half way through her haircut.

Gabriela was perfect. She felt like a pampered princess and couldn't have been more excited when her long braid was chopped off. All that hair that she had since she was at least two fell to the floor and I was left with a super excited big girl. She couldn't stop checking to make sure her hair was still short. And, this may sound strange, but I totally noticed a change in her behavior. Gabriela was somehow so much more grown up. I feel like she took a lot of pride in making such a big decision, going through with it, and then enjoying the results. Later that night she told daddy that she decided to cut her hair short so she could be like Ramona Quimby. How cute is that?

Gabriela has truly transformed in so many ways over the last year from how she acts at school, to the loving, helpful big sister she has become. She proudly proclaims that she is 4 and three quarters to anyone who will listen. As soon as we finished reading the Ramona books, she begged for us to start over. It's hard to believe she has been riding a two wheeler and has had her own library card for a year now.

I don't know how much longer she will want to be my baby, her haircut made me feel like she is heading into this new big girl phase. So right now I will take what I can get. Just tonight, as I tucked her into bed, Gabriela wrapped her arms around me as tight as can be and very sleepily hummed along while I sang her You Are My Sunshine as she drifted off to sleep. That was my most favorite part of the day. Oh baby girl, you are turning into a beautiful young lady, and I love you to the moon and back.