charlotte | for father's day + luca's first haircut.
these trips always feel like a whirlwind. i want to say it's because we pack so many things into not so many hours, but the truth is even if we just sat next to each other on the couch the entire time, it wouldn't feel like enough.
my mom always asks if it's worth it to drive almost 14 hours by myself for less than 48 hours together, and the answer is always yes.
sorry, mom, for the food photo, but T and lee were doing whole30 in june, which meant i had a whole30 breakfast on saturday morning, and i just had to document it, considering my diet largely consists of all the things you cannot eat on whole30.
on the bottom left is that fauxtmeal T is obsessed with. she was pretty disappointed when i sided with lee in my opinion: it's not that it tastes bad, it just doesn't taste like anything and has a sandy texture that i do not enjoy.
it's better if you add fruit, or so she says, but i think mixing the two creates a scenario in which the fruit is less enjoyable to eat, rather than making the fauxtmeal more enjoyable.
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the main event this weekend was luca's first haircut. i have been dreading this moment for months, knowing his natural hair growth was creating an undeniable mullet, but those baby curls! and, how is he so old that he needs a haircut!?
looking back on photos i took before the cut, i mostly think
mmm he needed a trim
. which is nice, because i thought i'd feel really sad about it. <–– in case you were looking for an update on my emotional aunt opinion.
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luca continuously blows me away with his behavior and how well he listens and cooperates. i don't know if this is particularly impressive behavior or if it's just me being impressed by watching him grow into a person. either way, he was a rockstar during this first cut, happily steering the taxicab, tongue out, occasionally putting his leg up because relaxation is always a priority.
the only time he got antsy and tried to climb out of the car was at the end, when she pulled out the blow dryer to get the hair off him. which is kind of funny because he has definitely experienced a blow dryer before.
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car selfies are the way to go with this kid, because (one) he does not enjoy being in his car seat to begin with, so cue any semi-fun seated activity! (two) he is generally uninterested in participating in photo shoots, and (three) i am generally uninterested in making him do things he doesn't want to do.
plus, i am always willing to sacrifice a photo for real face-time, quality interaction.
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on sunday morning, i took my dad out to breakfast for a little father|daughter date. ever since i moved, since he moved, since luca, we haven't gotten a lot of one-on-one time. whenever we're together, we're together with a group of us. so, on this day, nobody else was invited and we got to hang out all by ourselves.
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father's day lunch always involves lobster. the double point from luca was his reaction to seeing one in the sink.
very impressed with lee for being willing to follow my instructions of "hold up your lobster!" and "put your face next to it!"
with a smile on his face
even though holding it up kind of made a mess.
also, luca kills me in those photos.
and then, J pretended grape juice was wine.
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and then, these. while sitting on luca's car mat on the floor, after T pointed out that we hadn't taken a photo together yet. i sat down next to her and she said, "now?" and it was now or never, it turns out, because these are the only photos i have of us from this trip.
and the thing about that nail polish is, we'd had a text conversation about that nail polish color. it turns out, we had both taken screen shots of instagram where people had posted about it because we liked the color and wanted to remember it for later. a few days before i got there, T texted to tell me mom had bought it for us, so we had a nail painting party over the weekend.
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i'll leave you with this.
in an attempt to snap a family photo, pre-cut, i managed to capture this instead: luca reaching out for me, not because i was closer to something he wanted (which is a real thing that happens and I WILL TAKE IT), but because i'm auntie and he wanted me for any and all activities throughout the weekend.
and you know what? THAT is what makes the 14-hour drive for a 40-hour visit worth it.