Naomi got a note in her stocking on Christmas telling her that Tim and I were letting her get her ears pierced as a Christmas gift.
We've opted to let piercings be something we do if and when the kids ask for them and it was just recently that Naomi first expressed an interest in having it done. So that was the secret plan for yesterday, which she didn't know until after Christmas. Rather than just getting pierced and being done with it, we spent the whole day together.
Two female Ws ready to go.
Jazz? Check.
Tillamook cheddar, Food Should Taste Good's multi-grain chips, Triscuits, apples, mandarins, bean dip, pea pods, green beans, and water? Check.
We stopped at the bank, then headed to Ross for a return. Naomi loves looking around stores, so we also did some browsing while we were there.
The next stop was the Beaverton library. We used to spend hours there every week, but Naomi doesn't remember that all. We spent nearly an hour snuggled up on a chair with a stack of books. Then we headed out to the car.
We then drove a couple blocks away to Black Hole - Beaverton (website and Facebook page), which is where I had my nose pierced many years ago and where Naomi was about to get both ears pierced. She went to the counter and asked for pierced ears, I filled out some paperwork, she chose some earrings, then we waited for our room to get prepared.
Naomi decided to smash her earlobes just for fun, simply because she won't be able to for a while.
"Hey, mom, take a picture of my serious face."
In our room, Naomi had a little bit of nervous energy.
Before I go on, let me tell you what she said to me several days ago. She told me she wanted to get her ears pierced, but she was a little bit afraid that they'd accidentally kill her. That seemed a bit irrational, so I did a little investigating. It turns out that she thought the gun used to pierce ears was a regular gun ... as in, "ready, aim, fire" ... and she was concerned that their aim would be off, that they'd miss her ear and hit her head. Oh my! The fact that she, my kid least likely to take a risk, was willing to put her life on the line for some earrings was a pretty big deal! I explained that the place we were going to doesn't use guns, but I also showed her a bunch of pictures online of piercing guns so that she'd understand lives weren't being threatened by the piercing process. Sweet girl.
Anyway, moving on. She asked questions about pierced navels and what happens when you sleep on new piercings, things she heard conversations about in the lobby, while she got her ears cleaned.
Sat up straight when asked to and listened to everything that was being explained to her.
Then she had one pierced ear. And some tears, because, after all, a needle just went through her flesh and it hurt. And because she's a crier. Which is fine.
She grabbed the mirror and a little smile broke through the tears. We relaxed for a few minutes and practiced a few more deep breaths, then she said she was ready for the next ear.
Done! Two earrings - one pink and one purple, because that's what she wanted. One splotchy face from crying. And a forced smile, because she was in a little pain.
Within seconds she was making a fake crying face, and that's when I knew she was good to go.
A group had arrived to get tattoos at the same time we did and had visited with Naomi a bit before we went back to get pierced, so we hung out for a while after we were done so that she could watch one of the people in that group get their tattoo started. Then she skipped down the sidewalk to our car.
Next on the agenda was Powell's - Cedar Hills Crossing for an hour of book reading.
"Mom, can I take a picture of you?"
So serious.
Smiling.
Crazy girl
Her weird eye trick.
Perhaps my favorite picture of the day. She looks so grown up and beautiful!
She asked to stop long enough on our way out the door to strike a Statue of Liberty pose.
Next stop? Target. Actually, we drove by our old house first, just for kicks. Then we went to Target.
Naomi received a pair of hand-me-down boots a few years ago and wore them constantly. They died a few months ago and she sobbed hysterically. Being a good mom, I posted pictures of her world falling apart on Facebook for the whole world to see. The pictures were just too good not to share. Well, one of the church grandmas gave us some money last weekend with instructions to get Naomi a new pair of pink boots. So, that's why we went to Target. I, of course, forgot to take pictures of the boots until we were home, even though she put them on immediately and wore them the rest of the day, hence the random pictures from home in the middle of a post about our day away from home.
Crouching, so as to be as close to the pink boots as possible.
Trying to look tough, but mostly looking way older than she is.
Back to Target. She looked at every toy on the shelf and we had fun with masks.
We never go to malls, but she loves browsing, so I asked if she wanted to go to Washington Square. She did! She giggled her way down the road as the people in a car next to us returned her smile and wave, and continued to do so for about 1/4 mile of barely moving traffic. We finally got to the mall, walked around, she got a sample from See's, we smelled a gazillion things in Bath & Body Works, she tried a glittery body spray on her arms (you can't see it in the picture, but I assure you that it's there), and we went into a little shoe store just to look at high heels.
Finally, we headed to Cold Stone, gift cards in hand, for our last stop before picking up Silas and Devon.
Raspberry sorbet with gummy bears for Naomi.
White peppermint with brownies for me.
Two happy tummies.
Eight hours together and zero dollars spent, thanks to money we were given to spend on Christmas gifts and a Cold Stone gift card stash that people so generously keep us supplied with. What an absolutely perfect day with my favorite six year old!! We had such a good time together!!!
