Hair With Attitude

The entire time that Sweet G was in the hospital following his birth he had this faux hawk hairdo. The first night we went to see him the NICU was all in a flutter. This precious child was about to meet his forever
family, the family that God had chosen. All the nurses knew the entire story—even more than I knew, really. They had taken care of him for 13 days, all the time praying and hoping that everything would work out with his adoption. When I saw him that first night I said, "Look, J. Someone fixed his hair so cute because they knew we were coming." It was really an exciting
moment for everyone.


The next day when I arrived to see my Sweet G I once again found him sporting his cute little faux hawk. This went on for his entire stay in the hospital. (Blonde moments) I just thought some nurse liked brushing his hair so it had the little curl on the top. You know, some people just like that kind of thing. Anyway, I would look at him as I held him, rocked him and fed him and just smile to myself at how sweet those nurses were to my baby. They really do get attached and they are very protective (almost scary at times). (Another Story)


The day finally arrived when we were allowed to take our Sweet G home. He had to learn to eat, be totally weaned from oxygen, weigh around 5 lbs. and be able to pass a car seat test. I know I never heard of it before then either. The test consists of them placing the baby in a car seat carrier while monitoring their oxygen saturation. Sweet G was unable to pass this test. He failed it three times. The last time he failed the test the hospital staff was beginning to ask questions about our insurance and when it would kick in. We had already been told by our insurance company that they would not begin coverage until he was in our physical possession. When we relayed this information to the hospital staff they immediately remembered that they had a modified car seat that they could loan us. It was the cutest little seat. Well, really it was a bed. You strapped him in with a five point harness just like a regular car seat. The only difference was that he lay down instead of sitting up. So we were quickly taught infant CPR (another requirement), we contacted our lawyer and made plans to meet that night (he had to escort Sweet G to the car because he was his legal guardian until the adoption was final), and rushed home to make sure that everything was ready for our baby's homecoming. There last hospital policy was that all parents of preemies are required to stay overnight in the hospital to care for the baby all alone (this we were allowed to skip).


After making it home I had a big revelation; nobody was styling Sweet G's hair into the faux hawk. That is the way his hair naturally grows. It is so funny. He has a double crown, two hugimongous cowlicks, a duck tail O, and a widow's peak. If hair can do it he has it. Over the course of his lifetime I have tried many times to conquer his hair. I was bound and determined to tamtame it. As you can see, I failed, failed, and failed again. People have laughed at me for trying. I thought it would have to lay down if it got long enough—wrong. I thought that if I held my hand on one of the cowlicks until it dried would make it lay down—wrong again. I have tried mousse, gel, hairspray—nothing works. I have done everything short of having an exorcism  performed or laying hands on him. I think I have finally come to accept his hair for what it is. He will always need to wear short hair. Problem is he hates getting it cut and he hates us to comb it. In fact, last Sunday when we were getting ready for church he fussed at J, "I don't want my hair fixed." J said, "Well, it looks bad and it needs to be fixed." At this, Sweet G looks up at his dad and proudly proclaims,

"They love my hair at church!"  I guess he is right about that. You can't help but fall in  love with him or his hair.