Oh, how this photo makes me want to stop time! It reveals way too many rites of passage for my sweet 6-year-old Kennah:

• Although you can’t see it in her smile, she just lost her first tooth two weeks ago.
• Today she got a haircut — and for the first time requested bangs (even though several older friends cautioned her that the forehead fringe, with its constant need for trimming, is “too stressful”).
• After the haircut, she persuaded me to take her to the shoe store she’d visited the week before with her dad to buy tennis shoes. While there, she’d spotted a pair of “high-heeled boots” that were “just her size,” and she wanted me to see them, too. Lucky for her, they were still there — and on clearance.
• Of course, then she needed an outfit to wear with the boots , so we went next door to Target, where for the first time she spent her Christmas money not on a toy, but on clothes and a headband that she picked out herself. Especially eye-opening for me was the realization that she no longer fits into the “T” (for toddler)-size clothes but has now crossed the aisle into the “Girls” section. (I was so relieved that she didn’t even consider the otherwise adorable floral skirt that, upon closer inspection, also featured pink skulls! Seriously?)

I really can’t take too many more “firsts” right now, so I hope we’re done with them for awhile. I’d like a little more time to enjoy this particular age (and stage) of my all-too-quickly-growing-up girl.

… fun facts about Keillor:

1. His first name was borrowed from the last name of author and radio host Garrison Keillor, of Lake Wobegon Days and A Prairie Home Companion fame. (It’s pronounced KEE-ler.) His middle name, Steven, is of Greek origin and means “crown.”

2. He loves Cars (the movie) and cars (toys with wheels).

3. In the above image (taken earlier this year), he’s wearing a much-loved and much photographed outfit first captured on film when his dad wore it in 1969, and then worn for special photos by his brothers Kellen (in 2001) and Kerrick (in 2004). This photo is also a reminiscence about something more than the outfit: his hair. Today, Keillor is bald, thanks to a head-lice scare at our house last week that made Shawn panic, whip out the clippers and shave all the boys’ heads—including his own. (Kennah and I escaped the same fate by opting to endure vinegar and tea-tree oil treatments.) In addition to being bald, Keillor is a little banged up, having fallen in the backyard and bumped his head right after his haircut. He acquired a sizable goose egg, which, combined with his lack of hair, has rendered him cute in a way that only a mother could love.

4. He memorized his first poem this year (“Love That Dog,” by Walter Dean Myers—click the first audio button below to hear him recite it) and can belt out the ABCs with the best of the preschool set (click the second audio button below to hear his latest rendition):

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5. His favorite color is yellow, which matches his sunny disposition. Oh, he can frown, but it’s easily turned upside down.

6. He’s 3 years old today! Happy birthday, littlest Little!

Ever since her brothers got their summer haircuts in June (see Boys of Summer) and several of her friends began to sport shorter hair, Kennah has been talking about having her own hair cut. At first I resisted; after all, it had taken her tresses quite awhile to get to the middle of her back, and we’d only trimmed it once in her four and a half years (see Girls Just Wanna Have Fun). But after almost a month of daily swimming lessons and other pool fun, her blond locks were showing the effects of the chlorine and turning into a tangled, sticky mess. So this morning we did it! We made sure that we would still be able to pull her hair back into a ponytail or braid it at its shorter length, and then we started cutting. I hadn’t intended to go quite this short. I always forget that wet hair springs up a little as it dries (just ask my sisters, on whose bangs I grew up practicing my hair-cutting skills!). But Kennah is thrilled with it and even let me style it a bit with the blow drier and some hair clips. It’s a good thing I took this photo right away, though, because a few minutes after I did, I noticed that she had taken the hair clips out.

Kellen and Kerrick underwent their annual summer transformation yesterday (with Keillor joining in for the first time), when Shawn lined them up and sheared them down in the backyard. Usually, I’m the one who cuts the hair around here, but this head-shaving tradition falls squarely into their dad’s jurisdiction—a throwback to his Navy days, I guess. I do admire Shawn’s efficiency—he got three boys finished in the time it would take me to carefully cut one boy’s hair (and I noticed none of them uttered a single complaint about itchiness, either!). The boys all love their extremely short hair for several reasons: 1) It keeps them streamlined for swim team, which begins tomorrow; 2) it makes hair-washing a cinch; 3) it means they don’t have to comb their hair for the next few months. As for me, I’ll be glad when it’s time to let it all grow back.