Charlie's First Haircut & A Gift for James

This past Saturday, we decided it was time for Charlie to get rid of his mullet.  His haircut wasn't as emotional for me as James's was (read about that here), but I still teared up a little bit.  He did awesome.  He sat still (for the most part) and only tried to grab the scissors a couple of times!

Here's the before and after:

He has a neck!

 James also got a little trim while we were there.  He's been having his hair cut by the same barber since his very first cut (with the exception of "the incident" when I tried to give him a trim).  His barber (Gary) had a signed baseball in a plastic case that James loved, and Gary would often let James hold onto it while getting his haircut.  They liked to discuss baseball and Charlie Brown.

We told him when we were there on Saturday that we're going to be moving, and that we weren't sure if we'd be back in before leaving town.  After their haircuts, the boys were playing with some toys in the waiting area of the shop, and Gary came over and told James that he had something for him.  He gave him the baseball and handed me a signed baseball card to hang onto for when James is older.  They're both signed by Chuck Harmon, who was the first African American to play for the Cincinnati Reds (you can read more about him here).  Mr. Harmon still lives in Cincinnati and attends Reds games, which is where Gary met him and was given the signed ball and baseball card.

I was really touched by this - the fact that he barely knows James, but knowing that he loves baseball, he gave him a wonderful gift that put a huge smile on his face.  I hope that someday James & I can pay it forward to someone else!