Coolest kid in the preschool set

On Thursday we saved Greta the embarrassment of having to someday admit that her first concert was Miley Cyrus or something equally atrocious by taking her to see Old 97's at Party in the Park, which is a yearly free concert series in Rochester that features some local and some national acts. We actually listen to Old 97's (and Rhett Miller), so we jumped at the chance to see them play, for free no less. Music is a huge part of our lives, so Greta's first concert is an important milestone to us. Here is first-day-of-school-style picture before the show.

Greta seemed a little out of sorts by how loud the music was at first (I forgot how loud live shows can be), but after walking around a bit and eating some ice cream, she grabbed our hands, smiled, and led us to the front, and I literally mean the front row. Interestingly, there was a bit of a love connection between the Old 97's bassist and Greta. During the last song, he looked directly at her and smiled and nodded for a good 30 seconds, and then as they left the stage, he waved at her. After he/they left, Greta was clearly upset. If I didn't know better, I would have thought the Beatles had just played.

Greta was crying, hanging onto the fence in front of us, and looking longingly in the distance. Of course the band came back out for an encore, but Greta was a young woman scorned. She looked so sad and mad at the same time and refused to clap after the encore. By the time we got back to the car, though, she was in a better mood and asking to hear Old 97's on the iPod. Personally, I am pleased Greta picked the bassist, who looks sort of like a grown Harry Potter, to crush on rather than the more obvious choice, the pretty-boy lead singer. (Atta girl.) Here is a picture of Pat and Greta enjoying the show.

As an aside, Greta was "this close" to having her first concert be Molly Hatchet, as that was the concert last week.

Over the last few weeks, Greta has been transitioning into a new classroom at day care, a preschool room! The transition, as far as we can tell, has been seamless, and I was thrilled when I picked Greta up on Friday and one of her new teachers reported that Greta is a pleasure to have in class, that she eats well, sleeps well, follows directions wonderfully, and that there is no question that she's ready for preschool. Does this mean I have to stop calling her a "toddler" and start calling her a "preschooler"?

The other milestone this week is that Greta got her first real haircut. After a lot of trepidation (on my part), we decided to take her to a place specifically for children, based on a recommendation from Greta's best buddy Colin. I'm so glad we did. Greta seemed a little stressed out about getting her hair cut until the pretty lady gave her a pink sucker and put Cars on. Here is a before shot of our shaggy dog.

Greta was so good during her haircut.

The little girls get to pick out ribbons for their hair. Greta is actually squealing at this stage of the haircut.

Ta! Da!

Fran