hair at last

So, it finally happened. Molly went from hairy beast:





to sassy "bob":




We've been talking about it for a few weeks, but I was reluctant. I know it was superficial, but I like her hair - I like that it's unusual for a baby to have so much, and there's always that joke about someone's hair being their strength (or, in the case of my childhood friends that were Sikh, not so much of a joke). And then there was the technical question: who would cut her hair? Would we take her to one of those kid hair cutting places? It seems a little silly to pay so much money for "baby's first hair cut", but then again, would I trust myself with scissors near her head? Maybe it did make sense to pay someone with a little more hair cutting experience than myself.

And then on Monday night I did the weekly hair wash/brush event. Molly's never been super keen on the whole hair washing and brushing thing, but it's only gotten more difficult as the volume of hair increased. Even in the best of scenarios, with gobs and gobs of detangling-leave-in-conditioner, and the other parent busily distracting the girl (where's your nose/chin/bellybutton/knee/armpit/toes?) the brushing is brutal. And this is why we limit these events to no more than once a week.

As I watched Molly turn bright red in the bathtub from her vocal protests of the hair washing, I began to think, it's really time to stop this madness. And as I gingerly tried to de-matt the rats nest on the back of her head, I thought, who am I fooling? Molly has no desire to keep this mess of hair. I'm keeping it for purely vain reasons. So I started mapping out the hair cutting process. I might be able to handle this - and heck, in the worst case scenario it's a little uneven, but I doubt the other kids at the park will notice. But her hair would need to be wet, I'd need scissors, and a comb. And a video. I had heard somewhere that's how they do it in the kid-salons: plop the kid in front of a video, work fast, and no one gets hurt.

Zach provided the scissors, the choo-choo videos, and the support. I found the comb and the guts, and chop! away the hair went. I just did one clean cut across the back, and her volumes of hair did the rest.

Now, we have the debate: do we keep a curl? or is that creepy?

Here's the official before & after shots (don't worry, she still has curls!):



The more I see her with the "bob" the more I like it and wonder why I was so worried. It's super cute, and seems much more comfortable for Molly.

The only problem is now you'll all know when I post old pictures. I have a lot of them, too.