Haircuts

It was time to shave the puppies again. Their hair was over their ears and it's hot outside. Milo, who sweats profusely at night when it's freezing outside, had started to grow moss in his scalp. Chris, who doesn't like to think of himself as bald, no matter how often I tell him its sexy, was still feeling like the centimeter of hair he had on his head was a centimeter too much. So we put the stool in the bathtub and I shaved the gang down. Max and Milo got short cuts (No. 2) but got to keep some of their hair. Chris and Ben were shaved nearly to scalp. Chris--because I like it that way. Ben because he has a nearly perfectly shaped head and can pull it off. If people start giving us donations for his chemotherapy I'll know I went too far, but otherwise, the boy looks comfortable.

We all walked around for the rest of the day rubbing the tops of the boys' heads.

Otherwise, it was a quiet day. Chris and Max did their exercise routine and then went on a bike ride. Then Chris mowed the lawn. I felt icky and spent the vast majority of the day in my blue comfy chair trying to focus on the book I'm working on and popping excedrins and trying not to throw up. (Pause for sympathy. Thank you.) So I guess it WASN'T a quiet day for Chris, but I missed most of it sitting here spaced out, trying to work. It was probably a banner day for typos.

Max is doing very well with the new routines. Between getting regular exercise and the change in the way we are all eating, he has lost five lbs and I think maybe he grew some, too. He is gradually becoming more active over all, running ahead when we go out, and hosting a really positive attitude about the activities Chris comes up with for them to do. I lay the success of all this at Chris' feet. It's so much easier to change your habits if your mom and dad are changing them with you. I've lost some weight, too. I haven't started exercising much yet. I live in fear of the humidity and it's hard to find the time. But I'm going to have to soon or I'll stop losing weight. And I don't want to stop. I want to be able to say a year from now, that since we moved here we lost X lbs, paid of $X debt, and made a ton of friends, and some other good things. That would be great. At any rate, at the rate Max is going, he'll be under 100 lbs for the first time in '05 in another two to three weeks. That would put us perfectly on track for a total weight loss of 20 lbs in 12 weeks. That's a whole new lifestyle when you're only 9 years old. (And, he won't need new clothes for a year or two!) I'm so proud of him--not for losing weight--for having such a terrific attitude about the new foods and the new activities. It's been nothing but change for this kid this year.