Baby Big Hair Frotective Challenge

What can I say? Participating in the first ever Baby Big Hair Frotective Challenge has been nothing short of FROTASTIC!! An amazing group of mommies (and one big sister) swapped tips, tricks and frotos while we challenged ourselves to keep our little ones' hair big and free for four days.

Here are JJ's styles for the 4 days - we went from a shrunken 80's-style 'fro on day 1 (top left), to a stretched via twists for Day 2 (top right), to an even more stretched via banding for Day 3 (bottom left) and finally a zig-zaggy texture (also achieved through banding) for Day 4 (bottom right; more details to follow soon).

Please head on over to the BBH voting page to take a look at everyone's amazing four days of fabulous big hair! You really don't want to miss this!!

Happy Canada Day!

Quickest post ever - just to say Happy Canada Day!

Canada Day Hair!!

JJ started with a 2-week old (and oops! not blogged-about) style with cornrows up and to the side on each side, and box braids in the middle.

The ((fuzzy)) side braids were pulled into flat two-strand twists, and the ((fuzzy)) middle box braids were pulled into piggy-back ponytails with red and white Pony-O's.

Chasing the Canada Day Cake at the parade!

Now we are getting ready for the Baby Big Hair Frotective Challenge so JJ's Canada Day Hair is on it's way out!

We are so looking forward to 4 days of BIG hair.....!

Big and Free Natural Hair

My work life has been crazy for the last few months.  As a result, JJ has been spending most of her time in protective styles that have stayed in for 3-4 weeks each. Because her hair has been in twists or braids much non-stop, it has been a long time since she has rocked her free, loose hair.

I try not to go too long without giving her some "big hair" time... I find that after seeing herself in braids and/or twists for extended periods of time, it takes JJ a while to re-embrace the big hair look. This weekend has been no exception. I detangled and separated her freshly-washed and still damp hair, applied some Queen Helene Royal Curl Creme, and told her we were done. She was unhappy. Actually - very unhappy. She expressed very clearly that she did not love her hair. It made me very sad.

Thankfully, Daddy D arrived home at that moment. Now he ***loves*** JJ's big, free, natural 'fro and is truly her hair's Number One Fan! He was very enthusiastic about her hair, and they posed for a few Daddy-daughter photos.

Then Daddy D headed out to run errands and invited JJ to come along. She forgot all about not loving her hair and accepted the invitation.

When she got back, she had gotten used to the big hair again, and added some (well, 6 or so) hairbands to accessorize. Daddy D and JJ spent some great quality time together washing the car and enjoying life.

Daddy D tells me that perhaps I've put too much emphasis on her hair... and that I should let her have free, loose hair more often. I agree, but I am also aware of how tricky the "wash-and-go" is with her incredibly shrinky hair. A big, free 'fro is hard to maintain during our busy weekdays.

I measured - 8 1/2 inches of shrink!!

We do surf the net often, looking at photos of fabulous big hair. I am forever pointing out and admiring big hair when we are out and about - so much so that my kids will point out big hair to me - before I even say anything. I do hope that as my work schedule winds down I can change up JJ's styles more often and maybe simply seeing herself with her free and loose hair more often will help her love it as much as Daddy D and I do....

Any thoughts. ideas, or opinions on balancing the BIG HAIR 

with longer-term styles? 

Or on helping JJ embrace the awesomeness of her big hair? 

We would love to hear your thoughts!!

April Carnival - Copy Cat Style!

We are super excited to be a part of this month's Hair Carnival, coordinated by the very talented Untrained Hair Mom.

This month, it's all about the copy cat styles, but with a twist (well, many twists in our case)! We have been sworn to secrecy as to whose style we would be copying, so this weekend is the great reveal!

The blog I had the pleasure of copying is Baby Bella Hair. I remember "meeting" blog author Tracey waaaaaay back during the Beads Braids & Beyond one month protective styling challenge in the spring of 2011, and I have been following her blog ever since. Her daughters Kae and Lea are just too cute! They are also close to JJ's age, and have hair textures similar to JJ's, so this was an easy match!

JJ and I looked through the Baby Bella Hair styles and narrowed it down to 2 styles for this post.

The first style was the one that Lea wore after her 26 days of mini-braids. You can see the original style here at Baby Bella Hair, and here is a photo from the original post:

Look at those shiny twists! As soon as JJ saw this photo she HAD to have this style! We started with clean, detangled, hair.

I'm sure I have mentioned that I love twists, and so does JJ. What amazing, versatile hair she has that it can go from fluffy, cotton candy hair in the left side of the photo (which I also love!) to the twists on the right:

This style was a hit (despite her funny face in the first photo - concentrate on the hair, not her annoyed look)! The first day we put clips at the ends of the twists - both for decoration, and to help the ends look a little more tidy. Because I usually used 1 clip per 2 twists, the twists kind of twisted together, for twisty twists, as you can see below:

The next day the clips came out, and the twists untwisted, for basic, still very cute, slightly kinky twists:

Later in the week, JJ added her own extra accessory, and insisted I include this photo - she was very proud of herself!

Thanks, Baby Bella Hair - we loved this style! 

But WAIT - that's not all - JJ chose another style, this one was a mommy style that Tracey did on her own hair!

SOURCE: http://www.babybellahair.com/2011/06/mommy-monday.html

JJ loved the cornrows up and to the side, and here is our take on the style:

Thanks, Baby Bella Hair for TWO great styles!

Be sure to check out the Baby Bella Hair blog and also like Baby Bella Hair on Facebook! 

Also check out Tracey's amazing handiwork at Clash of Designs and like Clash of Designs on Facebook.

Finally - be sure to check out the great reveals of all of the other Copy Cat Carnival participants!