Before and After Pics

Despite the nursery school teachers claiming that their hair was adorable, particularly Will's duck tail, it had to get chopped. Will's bangs were poking him in the eyeballs. Jake just had a haircut a couple of weeks ago, but we had his done as well to clean it up (no pics of Jake this time, sorry).

For the last few years, Jonathan and I usually tortured the poor kids by trapping them into their booster-high chairs, while we buzzed their heads as short as possible to help lengthen the time in between cuts. We knew they hated the sound and the feel of the clippers, but the alternative was to turn them into Chrystal Gayle look-alikes or to risk them getting cut by the scissors of a hairdresser who is dodging one of their kicks.

The move out here gave us opportunity to make a lot of changes. The transition from cribs to beds. The twins' sharing a room to a room of their own. No more high chairs. You get the idea. Haircuts were another one of those things where we figured that we might as well throw in another big change for the twins and start taking them for regular haircuts. We found our place. Beaners. It's a great franchise that started in Calgary and they've got people who have tons of experience with all types of kids, primarily all of those kids who hate getting their hair cut. The kids sit on cool coin-operated rides like racecars or animals. There are videos playing on several televisions placed around the shop and there is even a *ball*room where the kids can play while they wait. We always bring along our own portable dvd player with the boys' favourite vids. Next time I'm going to have to remember to bring a bag of m&m's as a reinforcer for Will. No matter how great the environment, Owen and Will HATE to get their haircut. But at least we don't have to worry that the hairdresser can't handle the behaviours that the boys will demonstrate. We've finally figured out that the easiest way to get the job done is to have Jonathan sit in a salon chair, under the cape while holding the boys so that they can't kick or punch anyone. Jonathan loves this job! :)

Here is pitiful Owen's before:

Here is his after (isn't he adorable?):

and here is Owen right after the after was taken:

(Owen's little tantrums crack me up. He really does make a great face, doesn't he?)

Here is the ragamuffin's old do:

and the after:

This photo cracks me up. I can't get over how much Will's body language looks like Jake.

The following two photos have nothing to do with haircuts. I just thought it was interesting to capture one of those odd things that Will does around the house. Will likes to jump on to the couch to watch tv in the mirror. Why? Who knows, but who knows why Owen and Will do the quirky things that they do.