Hair, Hair and More Hair!

As a white mom of an adopted African child I knew that I would have to work hard to get good at doing her hair. I have loved it. I always wished that I had hair like hers. My limp white girl hair can't do anything cool. I still have so much to learn, but in case anyone wants to know here is our hair journey so to speak.

Fi has the most beautiful soft curls ever, but very tight and gets matted in the back. We went to pick her up in Ethiopia when Fi was 11 months old. She had had her head shaved at 6 month old when she had come into the orphanage so her hair was short of short. As soon as we got her to our hotel I parted her hair and put two little clips in it. It was amazing how different she looked and how she looked more like a girl.

Since she hated having her hair even touched, that was the only hair style we did for a while. Every single day though I did her hair. Got it wet first (this is the key to her hair), put conditioner in it, and then combed it out. At first I could only do her hair when she was in the bath and not paying attention. Soon though I discovered her love of Veggie Tales sing-a-longs. She has since learned to sit kind of still while her show was on leaving me a limited amount of time to to her hair. The show gets paused or turned off if she fusses or moves too much. Doing something to her hair everyday also helps her get use to it.

Most of her styles to start with were only on the top of her head because the rest of it is too short. The most common were two puffs onto of her head (parted down the middle and from ear to ear). My other favorite for a while was four puffs that connected into another set of four puffs (below).

Sometimes the back would be free or sometimes it would also be in puffs. I also braid each little puff before I connect it to the next puff.

French braids. This didn't last long. Her hair comes out easily so I have to redo it very often.

Flat twists on the top of her head. My first attempt.

Flat twists into puffs in the back.

More flat twists, but this time to the side.

My first try at a veil style. It is little pony tails that crisscross all the way on top of her head.

the back was two puffs and one set of a veil.

I love doing Fi's hair and I have to do it every few days and usually fix it everyday. Her hair is very curly but does not stay very long in anything no matter what I put it in.

I have a lot to learn and I have yet to make a good straight part on her head, but compared with how it was going 6 month ago we are make headway.

I am learning a lot from this new website that I found on another adoptive mom's blog: www.happygirlhair.com

Check it out, it is wonderful. A mom of Ethiopian twin girls talks all about how she styles their hair.