Operation Hat

As someone who tans very easily and rarely if ever burns even without sunscreen, I have been having some trouble getting used to being in charge of a fair skinned child. Over the past 4 years I have gotten used to dating and being married to a fair skinned man, however, most of the time, he takes care of his sun care himself. The little man however, is all mine to ensure that his baby skin stays baby smooth and healthy. Now that summer is here and the sun has finally started to show on a somewhat consistent basis, I have put into place "Operation Hat".

I have never been a hat wearer for a number of reasons. One, I do not look good in hats. Two, I have an abnormally large head which rarely, if ever, fits women's hats (thanks, Wedlake's!). Three, because of point number 2, I often end up buying hats that are two small, and then end up with a headache. Because of all of these reasons, bringing a hat is just not programmed into my brain. Having a child with the skin he has (inherited from his father, I might add!) means that some major reprogramming is now necessary. For the past couple weeks I thought I just might be able to remember a hat but after numerous trips halfway down the driveway or to the neighbors deck without one, I quickly realized that our hat-transition is not going to be as seamless as I once thought. So here is my plan...we now have and leave a hat in the following places: the stroller, the diaper bag and by the front door. Hopefully this should cover us and I should never be without a hat for him again. This weekend was day one and two of this effort and so far, so good.

Here is the stroller hat in action...

Jason, along with some amazing family members who came in especially to help, started to tackle siding the back of our house this weekend as it was too beautiful to be inside. Sunday afternoon, before our surprise helper arrived, Jason and I tackled getting the last few trim pieces up and ensured that everything was straight and ready to go for the actual siding. Since it was so nice out and our backyard at this point (which faces East) has absolutely no shade, Jason threw together a temporary little area for Colin to sit and play while we worked. He seemed pretty happy in there with his cheerios, toys and puppy (another shade lover) to keep him company. (That is the diaper bag hat in action)...



Here is a shot of the siding very early into the project. They ended up getting about half way up but with the majority of the tedious trim and detail work complete, the rest should go up much quicker.


All in all it was a great weekend of family time, work time and even a dog park visit and walk. Combine that with beautiful weather and the summer inching closer I couldn't ask for better. Operation hat is in full swing over here now, just in time for expected temperatures in the mid 20's all week. About 5 minutes into it this weekend I realized that our second operation was in need of a immediate launch as well..."Operation keep the hat on your head". More on that soon, I'm sure!

Happy Sunning and Hatting!