Proud Mama

I did that. And I am one proud mama.
I cornrowed Olivia's hair! I'm not good yet, but as a french braid native, I am finally getting the hang of it.

This is the second week she has sported this particular style, and I snapped a few shots after I refreshed all of the braids on Saturday. It's increasingly hard to get good pictures of my little spunky subject. She hates the flash.

Here are some tips, if you are thinking about committing to this hair style for your little one:

• Don't expect your toddler to sit still. You have to incrementally train your little one to sit still with less-involved hair styles as they grow up. Olivia's hair has been fussed over whether it was just hair bows or plats since she was 7 weeks old.
• Prepare a snack, juice, or bottle.
• TV can be a good distraction. Olivia gets to watch her favorite show(s). 
• Playtime is a good time. We typically embark on the one-hour commitment between 10-11 a.m.  as it is one solid hour away from 12 noon nap time. She will be READY for that nap too. Btw, it doesn't always take an hour, sometimes less.
• Give her a break. At the halfway point, if possible, stop and kiss the baby, let them run around for about 2-3 minutes (but not too long) and then refocus and get it done.
• When you're done, let 'em run.  I remember as a young girl getting my hair braided (usually during the summer months) after sitting still all of that time, I couldn't wait to break free and run.

You should also try to avoid interruptions and distractions yourself so you can concentrate on getting the task at hand done as soon as possible.  So that means no taking phone calls, watching TV,  etc.

Two Helpful Tools: the Bebe Pod and metal clips (keeps hair you're not braiding out of the way)

Above all take it easy and don't stress yourself or your child out (or the rest of your family) over getting this done. Every part won't be perfectly straight and symmetrical and every braid won't be perfect. Oh well. There's always next time.

Let's Catch Up

Here's what's going down in our little corner of Charm City...

First, I am happy to announce that I have a fellow dill pickle lover.  I've never been more proud.

O gave us a preview of how potentially helpful she could be around the house one day. I couldn't deter her from the mop, so I gave up and showed her how to use it.

We rocked full out afro puffs for the first time this week.

O store-tested the IKEA bed I picked out for her new room. She liked it. Now if I could just get her to lay or sit on it. I'm so afraid that the toddler bed switch (when it arrives down the road) will be the first glitch in our perfect record of sleep and sleep training.  We've been so blessed in that department. Praying and positive thinking only!

Party planning is coming along and after last week's post about my lack of craftiness, I broke out the sewing machine this week. With the help of my mom I actually MADE something for O's birthday party (to be revealed later--and don't get your hopes up).  As seen here, Olivia is an "unbeatable" shopping partner.

"Hey mom,  tell that creepy lady to stop staring. I am not actually for sale."

After hearing the stories from Nanny Julia about how Olivia loves her twice-weekly library visits, I had to see it for myself. It was my favorite 30 minutes of this week.

And last but not least, the birthday goodie bags are complete and sorted by the varying ages and genders of the little party attendees.

Glad to be done with this anxiety-inducing task---now I've got to muster the courage for the other thing that's been giving me heartburn---the thought of making the birthday cupcakes! Ah! I'm not going to wimp out and order some delicious designer ones though. I'm going to power through! After all this is the stuff that moms are made of.  Riiight?

O-no! The Fro!

Miss Olivia after the Friday night hair washing...Can you say TIIIIIGHT AFRO?!!?!!

This is her repeating after me saying.... "Afroooooo"

Working with that thick stuff the next morning is always tug-o-war of pleading, whining, and bribing. A couple months ago I contemplated writing a how-to post on working with nappy difficult baby hair. I started taking the pictures of supplies, distractions needed but gave up after I realized O was not in hair modeling mood that day.

 

She was not having it. Plus the picture taking was prolonging the agony for her.

It usually takes me 30 minutes to go from fro to any braided hairstyle. Most times I just give O quick little braided plats for the air drying and that helps transition to neater, easier-to-manage braiding the next morning.

I still haven't mastered my corn rows enough for what I call "baby speed." I can't yet execute that kind of braiding with good quality at a fast speed. My mother-in-law does a good job in the corn row department. We visited CT last weekend and O sported my favorite MIL corn row style while there.

This hairstyle makes you realize how much hair she has for a mere 11 months. In this picture I'm holding our friend's three month old baby girl, Sifani. Olivia loves to squeeze and poke poor little babies. This was the first time I saw her get a little jealous and wanted me to ultimately hold her too when she realized I wouldn't let her touch the baby. She does better with older kids. This lucky guy, Kaelon, Sifani's big bro, got a big kiss from O. He was not thrilled.

She wants to do everything the big kids do. She stares and studies and then jumps right in.

And just because...more pics of the O-fro on the go. She is walking everywhere now. In 8 days she has gone from both hands up in the air in the "touchdown" position while walking to then putting her arms out in front of her like a mummy to their current position straight out at her sides. Today, she gave her fist kids' offering in church b/c she could walk down the aisle.

Wild Wild Hair!

Olivia's hair lives in little braids all the time now, but I thought I would share a pic of what it looks like before the weekly Friday night wash...

WILD AND CRAZY (and cute)!

A Victim of Cabin Fever

This weekend Olivia fell victim to mommy's cabin fever! On Sunday morning, my mom gave her the cutest little braids and I tried to recreate them myself when we got back home and the second blizzard attacked Charm City.

Check out my skills...

Don't be fooled by the happy face. That is a look of relief and excitement because I was done messing with her hair! This little one screamed and squirmed to the point where I had to stop halfway through and just hold her and apologize. I kept rocking her and telling her, "I'm sorry baby girl, but it only gets worse for little black girls who become black women. You have hours, days, years ahead of you that will be spent in a hair salon. Get used to it. Mama loves you."

A Woman's Crown and Glory...

(taken with my blackberry)

With all of the granddaughters in our family so far (pictured above with Charm City Daddy)--you'd think we have this hair thing down. But they all have different textures of hair and require different treatments.

Before I even knew Charm City Baby even had hair (yay!) I've been obsessing about how I am going to keep her hair done. This from a person who has done an interview about her various hairstyles in nationally televised pageants. Yes, I've been repeatedly teased--even at the office.

I think it's also partly a "black mama" thing. I know Olivia's hair is going to be kinky b/c she is, after all, my child.

I've practiced on my patient little neice--whose hair I predict may be closest to Olivia's texture. Bless her heart. My sister has trained her to get accustomed to the hours it takes to get your hair done as a black woman. What can I say? Part of it is because of our hair, part of it is because of the general social scene of the salon experience. It's expected.

In fact, my neice now goes to her own beauty shop (for kiddies of course) for her own 3-hour appointments and she's not even 3 years old yet! She comes back with some of the neatest creations in braids too.

So, I've started to look at products to help me with my quest for perfect baby locks (age appropriate of course).

This company's product seems like it works WITH not against the natural tendencies of baby hair. I like that.

Then there's also this one...

I don't know anyone that uses these products--but I am curious to hear what works for other moms there.

What baby hair care products have you heard about? What works for you?

My Kind of Town...

This weekend I visited my sister and her family in the "land of good food" a.k.a. Chicago!!!

I arrived on Friday just in time for lunch. A Fattoush Salad at Cedar's Mediterranean Kitchen. Amazing.

Later for dinner--I never leave Chicago without a slice of heaven from Giordano's. My brother-in-law also brought home some authentic jerk chicken and red beans and rice. It was hands down, the best I've had since I was in Jamaica and tasted like it was smoked on applewood. Wow.

Other food over the weekend included a Chicago Pizza Puff (first timer), an Italian Beef (first-timer), and the usual Chicago Dog--or "Magnificent Char Dog" from Gold Coast Dogs...


The next morning I got my first taste of what it may be like to do Charm City Baby's hair when she's two years old, when I volunteered to do my niece's hair and get her dressed for the day.This was really fun b/c she LOVES the camera.

Here's the before...

She told me in her two-year old voice she has "Wild, Wild Hair" quoting one of her favorite children's books by Nikki Grimes.--a book every little brown girl should have, in my opinion.

Anyway...after 20 minutes of hearing her say "ouch" and "finished yet?" and responding "I'm sorry!" and "almost!"we had a finished product (and a smiling face!)...

And just because she LOVES to pose...all dressed in her High School Musical jogging suit...

This was good practice for me. I think I did a good (not perfect) job, but I accidentally did her hair while she was still in her pajamas and had to force her head into her t-shirt without messing up her do--no easy task--but a lot of giggling.

All and all--a great time in Chi-town. I can't wait to go back!