La La La La, Wa Wa Wa Wa

Olivia loves Elmo. She wants to marry him. Honestly, we almost never watch Sesame Street, and her favorite guy on the show is actually Murray but he gets no retail love so Elmo gets all the credit. Sorry, Murray. If your monster mug was on a t-shirt, I'd buy it for my kid. Anyway, Olivia recognizes Elmo anywhere and, even though she is still adamantly against saying any words besides Mama and Dada, she makes all kinds of grunts, hand gestures, and spastic dancing motions whenever she sees him. Yesterday, we went to Buy-Buy Baby to return a swim diaper that we won't be using this summer (something that was actually too big for once!) and, of course, I came out having spent more than I returned. Dang it! Olivia saw this Elmo romper on the clearance rack (hey, at least she knows how I roll!) and turned into a wildly gesticulating monkey. It's a good thing she was strapped into the cart because she would have otherwise launched herself directly into the rack! It just so happened that their clearanced clothes were an additional 50% off, so this was a really decent score. Yes, my little grasshoppa, you learn from your mommy well!

Olivia walked around all morning proudly pointing at her Elmo and blowing him kisses. Geesh, can this kid get ANY cuter? And, just in case you're wondering, I was not drinking this morning when I did her hair. The severely off-kilter pigtails were the only solution to get her sweaty bangs off of her sweaty forehead and out of her eyes.

Later in the day (after a wardrobe change), we decided to run a few more errands. Right next to Trader Joe's is a kiddie haircut place, so I thought we'd check it out, if only to get an idea of their prices. It turned out that they were quite lonely in their, so I decided that since Livi saved me so much money on her Elmo outfit I'd spring for a professional trimming of her bangs (I've apparently inherited my mom's inability to cut in a straight line and the last trim I gave her was a little... butchery). At first, Olivia was almost as excited as if Elmo was going to cut her bangs himself. But, then, out came the cape and suddenly, Livi decided that she would have none of that. Nope. Uh-uh. Not even Batman-style. So she had to sit on my lap while she wavered between wailing and giving the poor (awesome, quick, and very good at working with tiny kids) stylist the evil eye. The whole haircut took about 30 seconds and cost $10, with tip. It's weird. Her Official Bangs make her look like such a little lady.

Doesn't she look BIG? How about now...

Well, admitedly, the string of drool from her mouth to her total choking hazard of a haircut prize is slightly less than lady-like. Okay, how about now?