First haircut OUT

No, not Bennett actually, though he needs one pretty badly. But Austin had his first haircut done by a professional -not me. He actually wanted to go to a barber shop and said "i want a chinese shu shu to cut my hair, not you". So, today was the day and off we went.

First came the hair washing...always my favorite part but probably not his. He was very well behaved and did not scream at all. But he sat up a few times before they were done and so a second "hair washer" sort of held him down while they finished. They kept telling him in Chinese not to move, but he didn't understand them so I would translate.

He sat remarkably still - much more still than he ever does for me- and the guy did a decent job, after finally understanding that I did not want him to cut all the way around his ears and did NOT want the razor used.

He kept combing the front in this poof and leaving it sort of long. I finally convinced him that I would NOT be combing his hair in a side-swept poof every day and just to cut it straight and shorter.

Bennett was entertained by the seemingly 20 woman standing around the shop- he liked the fish in the tank. This freed me up to take pictures. In China it is almost always men who cut the hair and women who wash it first and sometimes massage afterwards (no, Austin did not get a massage). They really wanted to cut Bennett's hair too and I can understand why, but I couldn't do his first haircut without Chris and I think I would prefer to do it myself. Don't want all his cute curls gone by someone who doesn't understand about "first haircuts".

Here is a not-great-shot of the finished product. Still a tad longer than I would have done, but not bad. Actually, I think I cut it about the same, but it was totally worth the $1.30 I paid to have him sit so still and quiet! Afterwards, Austin wanted to go upstairs where they have a spa-like place for massages and eyebrow plucking and such. He asked the woman "Aiyi, go zhe ge?" which means "Auntie, go there?" in Chinglish. She happily complied and took us on a "tour" of the third floor, showing Austin the rooms and beds upstairs. Then he was ready to go and so was I, so we walked back home. I chose this place primarily for location- it literally sits outside the gate of our complex. I figured they are all about the same and the closer the better for a 3 year old walker in the cold.