Hair today....gone tomorrow...

Or something like that! It is more like hair yesterday....gone today, but honestly there was little change. However, that little change was incredibly hard for me. To fully understand my pathetic attachment to my daughters hair, you need a little history. So sit back, grab your favorite drink, and let me indulge you in the history of Sugar Bear's hair. Try not to pee yourself in excitement. Actually if the need to use the potty strikes you...you need not interrupt me, just go ahead and excuse yourself. Remember to wash your hands before you come back though. I am a germ freak like that. So here we go...

I have a head FULL of hair. I am sort of notorious for my hair. It is thick and naturally curly. I would say that of all my features, my hair is the one that invites compliments on a regular basis. I still can't figure out what old men find irresistible about a head full of curly hair, but I can guarantee, if I go into a BINGO hall, I'll get at least 3 little only men drooling over my hair. I think they are just envious....but who knows. I just have a sexy knack for making old men giddy. Now that is a skill I'm sure you are all jealous of. Anyhow...I digress....how do I always do that?

When I discovered that I as expecting a baby girl, the constant comments began to roll in about how pretty she would be with hair just like her mama's. I must admit it was flattering, and I think I internalized it, expecting her to pop out with a head full of luscious locks. It was a bit of surprise when my first glace at her newborn sweetness revealed a baby with hardly any hair. My mom, who was present at her birth immediately announced that her hair was so similar to mine when I was born.
Here she is at 4 days old. Awwwwwwwwwwww.....look at the dark peach fuzz on her tiny little head. sigh.....


As the days and months pasted by, I began to wonder where her hair was, and I wasn't the only one to notice her darling baldness. We were asked nearly once a week, "when is she gong to get her mama's pretty hair?" and I'd always reply with, "I don't know...but I love her little bald head." In actuality the only drawback to a bald baby is....you have a perfect view of the soft spot, and it is a constant reminder of how fragile that little head is. I was cool with it, but we could freak out many of family member with the rhythmic pulsing of that dent in her head. tee hee

Soon I started making hair bows. Who doesn't love a hair bow, and who says you have to have hair to wear one. Certainly not this mama. The bigger the bow the better, I'd say. Here she is at 6 months old. Still bald as can be....but seriously stylish.


Time just kept on rolling by....and the hair remained the same.....absent. I figure the girl was busy growing some seriously baby fat, and just didn't have the energy left over to bother with hair.


On her first birthday, she was still sporting the barely there hair-do, and the helpful comments were still rolling in. "I really thought her hair would be just like her mama's!" "Corey had more hair than this when she was one...I just don't know...she might not ever have hair like her mama!" "Oh dear....what will we do if she has thin straight hair?????"....OH.MY.GOSH don't say that....STRAIGHT HAIR! OH dear lord....what will be do. Seriously people, Sugar Bear's hair or lack there of became the choice topic of worry for several of my family members. I have to admit I started to get a little defensive about it. I caught myself yelling...."We will LOVE HER....even if she never gets hair, so get off my back about it!" "Happy Birthday baby....mama is having a break down, and just might have to hurt the next person who comments about your beautiful baldness! Now pass the freakin cake!"


Needless to say, the comments died down a bit, but the tension remained. When would Sugar Bear get more hair, and is she worthy of her family status if it comes in..... say it isn't so.......s t r a i g h t????? That is the question. At 1.5 years of age, and about one year ago, my little Sugar Bears hair finally started to grow at a creep crawling pace. I'm not certain, but the joy she is feeling in this picture is relief knowing that she may be allowed to attend the family Christmas party. It is widely known that you need a thick flowing main to get more than coal in your stocking. whew....


I mean.....there was even the tiniest hint of curls.....GASP....




By her Second birthday, her hair had thickened and we could even squeak out some teeny tiny piggies. For consistency sake though I chose to share the "down do" she sported most of the time.


Looking back at these photos really does remind me of how far we have come, yet how incredibly difficult it was to deal with the constant comments. They haven't ceased entirely, and I'd like to think that I just let it all roll off my back, but you should see the fangs and claws that come out when the slightest comment is uttered within my daughters ear shot. I will NOT let her feel inferior for having only, slightly wavy hair. My love is deeper than the thickness of her hair. My love is not based on our similarities. I will love her with or without hair. It is fairly obvious to me, that she doesn't have my hair, and I am cool with that. Now if we can just shut the rest of the ninnies up. Seriously, people...it is just hair.

This past weekend, I finally realized that letting her have shaggy hair wasn't going to convince people that she wasn't ever bald. Trimming it up wasn't going to stunt her growth. Evening it out, was not going to drop her popularity ratings in the family, and if it does...I don't want to be in this dang family! So....we paid a visit to Auntie A, the beautician turned nurse. She is fun...and loves us regardless of our hair differences. We started with a little shaggy Sugar....


...and slowly trimmed away the tiny ends that had been there since birth. It was pretty bitter sweet to say goodbye to hair I cherished for so long, but we don't need it. Our love transcends tresses, and I am proud of it!






Is it just me...or does she look worried that Grandma might not love her if we go through with this????




"Don't worry Sugar Bear! Your mama loves you just the way you are!"

I hate to do this...as I am sure that while reading this you had to stop for a potty break twice and one refill of your drink, but I'm going to leave you hanging on the final haircut picture....yes...I suck like that. I am leaving you hanging here, but this post is seriously long enough. The whole reason for this fabulous haircut was in honor of Sugar Bear's first day of preschool. Stay tuned for a follow-up post highlighting that special day, and her brand spanking new hairdo.