Chatting with Holland {Prequel}

So I just wrote this post about Holland's talking nowadays but I wanted to do a little prequel to all of her talking posts to write a little bit about when she started talking and all of that fun stuff. Just for memories' sake! {The pictures are to show how much she has changed over the last year or so!}

June 2013 {just barely learning how to walk}

Holland's first words were "mama" and "dada". In no particular order...of course! And I actually can't find the dates of when she said both of these though so whoops on that one! But those were definitely her first two words. After those she learned "no" in the end of June 2013 followed by "dog" and "wow" {July 2013}. For a while those were her only few words other than signing a couple of things {"more" "all done" "eat"}. Then towards the end of October and into November she just started talking a bunch more. By the end of November {about 14 months old} she had 25-35 words that she said on a regular basis and she could also point to a bunch of her body parts {belly/belly button, toes, head, nose, tongue, ears, eyes, mouth, teeth, hair, fingers, knees, cheeks}, and she knew how to do some fun gestures {high fives, kisses, more, please, eat, bump it, blow kisses, wave}.

November 2013

Towards the end of January {2014} Race and I wrote down all of the words Holland could say one night and we ended up with over TWO HUNDRED words! It was crazy! A few of them we asked her to say but most of them were words she used on a regular basis.

February 2014

We have enjoyed Holland's talking so much over the past year. Every time she learns a new word or the correct way to phrase something it is so exciting but also a little bit sad! It is just a constant reminder that she is growing up so fast! I'm trying to write it all down so I never forget this fun phase!

September 2014

On Being Brave. {& Haircuts--kinda}

I am really shy. Because of that I am always really impressed with people who can start {and carry on} a conversation with just anyone they meet.

For the past few weeks I was trying to figure out where to get my hair cut {I got a pixie cut and those are a little scary--especially when you don't have a hair dresser you know you love}. I was constantly on the lookout for people with cute pixies so that I could ask them who cuts their hair. None of my Idaho friends have short hair and my ward here is pretty  heavy on the elderly population {we have FOUR retirement communities in our ward boundaries} so I didn't really know where to start. I wanted something really cute and chic {what does chic really mean?}--not a "mom" or "grandma" haircut.

I started to keep my eyes peeled whenever I left the house. I didn't see much when I went out but I can honestly say I didn't look that hard because I knew I wouldn't be brave enough to actually walk up to some random stranger and first, compliment them on their cute hair and second, ask them who cuts it. So I set up an appointment with a recommendation from a friend of a friend and hoped for the best.

The night before the appointment Holland and I were wandering around Target when I saw a really cute, stylish girl {for some reason the stylish part was pretty important to me} with a really cute pixie cut. I just knew that I had to get up the nerve to ask her about it. I walked by her a few times and was about to walk away without asking when suddenly she was walking right towards me! I HAD to ask her.

So I did. I stopped her, complimented her on her cute hair, and asked her who did it. She told me how she had gotten it done at a nearby beauty school and hated it so she cut it herself and then enrolled herself in beauty school!

Ever since this happened I have been thinking about it a lot. I loved learning about this random girl's life. I know I just learned this one little thing but if I hadn't complimented her on her hair and talked to her for a whole one minute I wouldn't even know that. In fact, I probably wouldn't think about the cute girl with the pixie haircut again.

People are so much more real and memorable when you know something about them. I want the people I'm around to be real to me. I want to know more about the people I come in contact with throughout my life. I have my close friends and family that I know so much about but I think I often I forget to interact with all of the other real people around me.

Even though it was something so small I am grateful I was brave and I really feel like I was rewarded with a piece of that girl's story. I think I need to always be on the lookout for something to ask strangers about. I need more random conversations in my life! What about you? When was the last time you had a conversation with a stranger? Did you start it or did they? Did you think about it much afterwards or am I just weird like that? 

Some Other Random Notes:
-In about six months I will be going to that cute girl to get my hair cut!! I got her information and I am so excited to have her start doing my regular trims!
-Now that I have a pixie cut I see girls with pixies ALL. THE. TIME. {go figure} and I feel a special kinship with them. I'm not sure if it's reciprocated but that's okay! :]
-And a couple questions for any hairdressers out there--Do you like to carry on a conversation while you are cutting a client's hair? And do you usually initiate the conversation or does the client?

Here is my hair for those of you who haven't seen it on Instagram yet.