Hair Evolution: A Year of Hair
Just to review, this is where we started. Cutie-patootie baldy!
In September 2009 Kendi entered the Gillispie Fam with beautiful wisps of brown hair. We worked HARD to keep that bow on the first day (an infant bow)!
She started sporting headbands to perfect the look.
Really not much we could do with that much hair, but she wore it well!
By November 2009 we had GREAT improvement (although I don't think I realized it then). Wow--enough hair for teeny-tiny "puffs." There was really no puff to them. They were single curlets, and stayed in about 1 hour before working their way out!
In January 2010 she had grown enough hair to have actual tiny puffs, on the top of her heard. The sides and back where still quite bald.
The progress from September to January was pretty darn good though!
In March she got her very first piggy-back ponies style. There was only enough hair to include the top, but look how much hair is in those puffs compared to just six months earlier!
We started doing little finger coils in March too. The sides were growing in a bit by this point, but that bald spot right in the back was stubborn. Ugh--that one spot!
In June Miss Kendi turned 3 years old and wanted "Dora hair" (her word for long hair). Kendi and I worked for over 12 hours to put in over 100 yarn braids. I stayed up until 5am the morning of her birthday to get it done.
Her hair really wasn't long enough to hold the braids. They lasted a few days before the started coming out. But what a memory!
Here we are a year later, and look at that hair! Really, she's added a lot. It's just a fraction of the amount of hair most 3.25 year old girls would have, but it's huge progress for Kendi. One day we'll have enough hair to do braids. One day it will reach her shoulders. But for now, we've got about 3 inches to play with on the top, and 1-2 inches most every place else. Even the bald spot in the back of her head is starting to grow in!
I dreamed and prepared for years for the day when I could do my African daughter's hair. I expected to have lots of hair right from the beginning. Instead, the Lord gave me a hair-challenged beauty. It's a blessing in disguise because I don't think I will EVER take her hair for granted once it gets longer! I don't think I will ever really say to myself, "I wish this child didn't have so much hair!" Five years from now when it takes me hours upon hours to do her hair, I hope I will remember back to this first year and be filled with JOY at remembering how hard we worked to get that hair!
She started sporting headbands to perfect the look.Really not much we could do with that much hair, but she wore it well!By November 2009 we had GREAT improvement (although I don't think I realized it then). Wow--enough hair for teeny-tiny "puffs." There was really no puff to them. They were single curlets, and stayed in about 1 hour before working their way out!In January 2010 she had grown enough hair to have actual tiny puffs, on the top of her heard. The sides and back where still quite bald.The progress from September to January was pretty darn good though!In March she got her very first piggy-back ponies style. There was only enough hair to include the top, but look how much hair is in those puffs compared to just six months earlier!
We started doing little finger coils in March too. The sides were growing in a bit by this point, but that bald spot right in the back was stubborn. Ugh--that one spot!
In June Miss Kendi turned 3 years old and wanted "Dora hair" (her word for long hair). Kendi and I worked for over 12 hours to put in over 100 yarn braids. I stayed up until 5am the morning of her birthday to get it done.
Her hair really wasn't long enough to hold the braids. They lasted a few days before the started coming out. But what a memory!Here we are a year later, and look at that hair! Really, she's added a lot. It's just a fraction of the amount of hair most 3.25 year old girls would have, but it's huge progress for Kendi. One day we'll have enough hair to do braids. One day it will reach her shoulders. But for now, we've got about 3 inches to play with on the top, and 1-2 inches most every place else. Even the bald spot in the back of her head is starting to grow in!I dreamed and prepared for years for the day when I could do my African daughter's hair. I expected to have lots of hair right from the beginning. Instead, the Lord gave me a hair-challenged beauty. It's a blessing in disguise because I don't think I will EVER take her hair for granted once it gets longer! I don't think I will ever really say to myself, "I wish this child didn't have so much hair!" Five years from now when it takes me hours upon hours to do her hair, I hope I will remember back to this first year and be filled with JOY at remembering how hard we worked to get that hair!
3 comments:
Amazing! She is beautiful always.
She is just adorable!
Since you are trying to grow her hair out, I wouldn't advise using rubberbands or cotton hair bands on African hair. Also be careful with hair styles that involve a lot of tension or pulling on the hairline or she can develop traction alopecia. At her length it would be best to leave it alone and deep condition and seal with a natural oil like castor oil or coconut oil at least 1x a week.
If you would like to learn more about caring for African textured hair this blog might be helpful:
http://www.chocolatehairvanillacare.com/
Hope that helps.
Also check out Girlsloveyourcurls on youtube. She has great hair tips and is also from Ghana:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlsLoveYourCurls
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