Earrings!

At the beginning of August, Rylee informed me one day that she wanted earrings.

To me, getting pierced ears has never been that big of a deal - my view is that whenever my girls want earrings, we'll pierce their ears. We didn't have much else planned that day, so on a whim we headed out for the mall. Rylee asked if it would hurt; I told her it would just feel like a little pinch for a minute and then be all better. Cailyn thought it sounded like a good idea, so I told her she could get earrings if she wanted as well.

Our first stop was, at Rylee's request, the pet store.

She LOVED this kitten.

 She named it "Little One." (She also named the other two kittens who were in the same cage "Mom One" and "Dad One." I didn't bother to tell her that they were probably siblings and not parents to Little One.)

 Then we headed over to the piercing booth. The girls chose their earrings - pink hearts for Rylee and purple flowers for Cailyn. 

Rylee was up first.

Contemplating a tongue piercing?

Making sure it's just right.

1...2...

3!

Let the crying commence...

 Apparently it hurt more than just a little pinch for Rylee! She wailed loudly and turned lots of heads. I had to hold her and calm her down. The only way that she was persuaded to let the lady pierce the other side was because I promised her that when she was done, I would take her to see Little One again. She decided that was worth it, so she snuggled up to me, and we got the other side finished. Of course, with more crying.

Cailyn watched the whole thing from the sidelines. As soon as Rylee started crying, she covered both ears with her hands. She kept them there the whole time. After the second punch, she started saying "I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it."

I assured her that she didn't have to.

I'll be curious to see how long it takes her to decide that she wants earrings after witnessing Rylee's trauma.

So, back to the pet store we went. Can you see the pink hearts?

 On the way out of the mall, Rylee found a kindred spirit - another little girl who gave kisses and hugs as freely as she does to new "best friends" who were complete strangers minutes before.

All in all, a successful trip.