No Hair, No Cares

So I have been wanting to do this for a while but I decided it was high time to do a bit of a hair blog. I work at a day care and one of my major pet peeves is to see little girls whose moms are fixed up to the T and their daughters come in looking like they havent had a bath or a comb through in days. This to me is sad. My mom always did my hair when I was little and though sometimes I fought her I was always happy to look 'cute' and she made it so that we enjoyed having our hair done. So when I found out I was having a girl, I vowed then and there to make sure she always looked girly and as though her mom took care of her. I don't really buy it when people say they can't do their kids hair for this reason or that. You can at least comb it out or curl it, you don't have to put it in a ponytail if they won't keep it in. Sure we all have our days where we don't have much time but I've made it a goal to always make the time, because I think it's important.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to post some things I have done with Melody's notoriously thin, barely there blonde baby hair to show you that it can be done!

The Karo Bow

When Melody was born she had a surprising (well to me, I was bald at birth) amount of baby fine white hair. It was literally platinum blonde. It was so cute but as a newborn you dont want to try anything, that would be a sin. Plus it all fell out in her first month of life. So for a long time we did the 'Karo bow'. It's simple. Get some ribbon, make a bow the size you like, and secure it on the head (middle, either side, near the front) with a dab of Karo syrup. We had a very small tupperware which we used and also a q-tip to apply. You don't want too much. Luckily this stuff is water-soluable so when you want it removed you just wash it out. It doesn't take much water.

Variations:

Karo bow with a fawk.

This works perfect for babies with a little peach fuzz on top. Same as Karo but use styling gel or even water and gently bring the centers together.

Karo with side slick

Same as karo bow, but this time put the bow to one side of the head and with gel, slick all the hair on the top of the head toward the side of the bow. Looks really cute and put together.

HEADBANDS

To me headbands are also another cute way to girlify your baby. The tricky part is if they can pull it off, which becomes a safety issue. At that point, just stick to the karo bow.

There are several types of headbands we used..

Pantyhose headbands- these are made of a pantyhose material and either come with a bow on (my sis in law Jenny made this one and a few others for me) They are stretchy but only to a certain point. If they leave any indent it's time to get rid of it.

Crocheted headbands- Probably the best for versatility and comfort. Easiest for them to pull it off, but you can't beat them for the other reasons. I got like 30 different colors off of ebay. Truth though, I haven't used them all. You can get really creative though. I made this attached clip for the dress she wore. That's easy too, message me if you are curious :)

These elastic ones appeared after I had Melody and I discovered them after she grew out of headbands. But I think they are adorable and very chic. You can get them on etsy. They come with flowers already on them. I imagine they'd be easy to make too. If I have another girl I will look in to this, or when Melody is old enough to not want to rip her headband out.

These premade ones work only on SMALL heads. I think Melody was maybe 4 months old in this picture. You don't want to put it on a bigger head because it cuts off circulation. They are not very versatile either because they come, for the most part, in pastels.

This beaded headband I got at Fred Meyer in a pack. They are super comfy and you can slide an alligator clip in to it so it makes it versatile. I could almost always match her outfits.

So those are really the options for NO hair at all besides, obviously, hats if you like them. But it will start growing, and soon! Once it does you can graduate to Level 2 hairstyles. I was lucky in that Melody grew hair in the center top. If you baby grows only on the sides, you can adjust (do a pony in the back and karo on the top perhaps?) or cut it until it grows out evenly.

LEVEL 2

Clip with Slicked Down Hair

This is good for if they have some on the top. It doesnt take a lot of hair to go in to an alligator clip and it does stick pretty well. Grease down the hair on top in to point then slick it down and stick the clip in.
The Sprout

One of my favorites but it will take practice to do it quickly, and pain-free. You will need little elastics (Walmart has good ones). You gather the hair first, position your hand on the top of the head and KEEP your hand there to steady the rubber band. Like I said it takes some tries but soon it's second nature. You can do the sprout alone or attach a clip (alligator) to the hair directly in front of the ponytail that's been pulled taut. It stays better this way. You can attach it to the sprout if it's full enough (doesnt take a lot of hair to be full enough)
Piggytail sprouts!

Make one sprout and divide in half. If you can, use hair from either side of the head secure the ponies as far from each other as you can. Add bows! :)
For whatever hair style you hair, gelling the back is cute too if your baby has hair or curls back there. Melody's hair is a funky texture and doesnt always stay curled.
Single sprout without added clip
Ponytails with flower clips and bangs slicked down
One more of ponytails.

I will let you all know when we reach level 3. She is getting more and more hair every day. Hopefully this gave some good tips!

Long time, no blog!

Hey everyone, I am sorry I haven't blogged in so long. I want to get back in to it. This is one of our family pictures that we were able to do in our photoshoot in Utah! We had a wonderful tim, and the pictures turned out great!

Melody is now one year old and doing so great! She is crawling (army crawling) now and starting to pull up on things. She does well on her feet but since she has been slower in her physical development I think it will be a while before she walks. She has been 3-5 months behind on both large and small motor skills. We have been told she will catch up fine though so that is encouraging. She also just learned to feed herself which was so nice!!

As far as mental/emotional development she is right on track. She waves bye bye, claps, and mimmicks certain things we do. She can say mama, dada, baba, yay, boobah (the name of her lovey), 'inky' for binky, and does kissing sounds. She also SINGS! Yes, it is too cute and must be seen to be understand. I say "Melody can you sing?" and she begins to, well, sing. I am trying to get a video of it but so far she is elusive. She is a joy to have around and though she has been sick as of late and teething (the two top are coming in) she never ceases to make us smile!

I am on Dustin's laptop but I will get pictures up soon, especially when we do Christmas. I have gotten it all ready and we are excited because she knows how to tear the wrapping paper off the gifts now so at the very least she'll love that part!

I got her a new fischer price dragon toy that encourages walking. I am excited to see her use it!!

Happy Holidays to everyone! Will post more soon!