Goodbye Crazy Hair...

At times Y has the most beautiful hair in the world, it's curly and unbelievably soft!  And then there are the times when she looks like Kramer from Seinfeld.  Ever since Y's bone straight hair she had at birth started to form little curls I began putting small amounts of baby lotion in her hair, mostly to keep it shiny and keep the frizz away.  For a long time it worked perfectly but over the past 6 months or so I became very frustrated with her hair.  I began to use more and more lotion which still worked for a few hours but by the middle-to-end of the day it was frizzy and flying in every direction possible.  I tried putting it in pigtails but the elastics would literally come out in an hours time.  Another thing I began to hate about the lotion was the fact that it attracted lots and lots of lint which would become clumped together and was a pain to comb out.  On top of all that the lotion really weighed her hair down and I was getting ever more frustrated with using it.

So one night after putting her to bed I hopped on the internet and started doing some research and found that I was doing several things wrong.  I should add that Y's hair is a blend of many different ethnicities.  She is black, white, and hispanic and her hair has some characteristics of all three of those.  During my research I found that there are MANY people out there raising multiracial babies that were having the exact same issues as I was having with Y's hair.  Long-story-short, there were a ton of products mentioned which ranged in price from $8 to $25.  I wanted the cheapest and most easily accessible option that worked the best and needless to say most of the recommendations weren't sold in your typical store and/or had to be purchased via various websites.  I continued my research and found that the key to maintaining curly hair is LOTS and LOTS of moisture (which is also the key to maintaining my own hair).  In finding that out I also found out that she would need a shampoo and conditioner that were moisturizing.  Turns out that the body wash which doubles as shampoo is very gentle but provides no moisture, so it was in fact just stripping her hair of moisture, so the first step was to stop using it immediately!

After more research I found what I was looking for and after purchasing and using them, I was absolutely amazed!  I immediately wanted to write about post because I was so happy with the results but I decided to test it out for a full 2 weeks before doing so...and 2 weeks later I am still just as satisfied.  So if you have curly hair or your child does you should give it a try.  Based on some of the reviews I read even adults use this stuff on their hair and are totally satisfied with it and at a fraction of the cost as some of the more expensive brands.  All three products are made by Johnson & Johnson and can be found at Walmart or Target.

The shampoo is Johnson's Extra Conditioning Shampoo for curly hair, they have it for straight hair too but that doesn't really apply for us.  It leaves her hair amazingly soft and easy to comb through.

After her bath and each morning I apply the Johnson's Leave-in Conditioner to lock in and add moisture throughout the day.

On the days when she doesn't get her hair washed or she gets a bath at night I use the Johnson's Detangling Spray along with the Leave-in Conditioner.








And honestly the best part is that Y no longer struggles with me when it's time to get her hair done...it's GREAT!!!

To Nana B.'s House We Go...

I was beginning to feel just slightly burned-out so I decided I wanted to get away and so Sunday after church we left for Canada to go to B's parent's house (B now has Mondays off instead of Saturdays). It turned out to be a great decision and was really just what I needed. I got a day (and a half) of relaxation and I must say I feel replenished. Sometimes I just get tired of our apartment and want to get away. While I was there I wanted to have my hair trimmed and get a bang (which I haven't had since high school). I really like it, I'm sure it'll be much easier to maintain and looks great curled, straight of in a ponytail! Here's a picture:

What do you think?

As for Y, she is continually getting better. We've also been doing a lot more tummy time and she's getting much better at it. She is really working on rolling over and she can do it but she just lets her arm get in the way. She hasn't figured out that she needs to lay her arm flat in order for it to work. She sometimes does it and when she does she can roll over, but she has yet to make the connection between the position of her arm and her ability to roll over. As for sitting up, she's pretty good at it and has actually been doing it for a while now - the problem: whenever she sits up on her own she wants to lean forward to eat her toes. When she does this, she tips over. We just have to get her to sit up straight and she could do it. That's all of the updates for now, until next time...