Happy Two Years of Loc'ing Strong!

It's our anniversary!

I just realized that today, two years ago, my son and I decided that we would begin the loc process on his hair. I must admit that I seriously doubted that we ever get here but I underestimated his commitment to this process (who'd've thunk that a then 7-year old, now 9-year old could commit to anything??!!)

Anyway, we've experienced pretty much everything that I remember reading about in the beginning, as far as the reactions of those around us: "Why you gon' do that to that boy's head?" "Cut that mess off." "Son, you don't really want your hair like this, do you?"

Through all of the doubts, questions, downright negativity that came our way, my son flashed all comers his most charming smile. He never argued, he never waivered. His response to all the nay-sayers, who would shake their head and ask, "don't you want your mama to cut your hair off?"; his answer never changed.

"NO."

He'd then flash those pearly whites again, with a heavier emphasis on the deep dimples in his cheecks, shake his hair out of his eyes and then go on about his business.

I'm so proud!

Not just of his hair, but of his own sense of individuality, his own sense of self. I'm raising a nonconformist, y'all without even realizing it and I think it is phenomenal!

Personally, I think his hair is beautiful (actually, I think everything about my child is beautiful but since this blog is about his hair, I'll just stick to this for the moment). I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but it has a smooth, mushy softness to it that draws my hands to it all the time. We might be cuddling in front of the tv and I find my hands caressing the little baby curls at the nape of his neck, y'know, the ones that still refuse to loc? He tolerates me for a minute and then finds some excuse to move his head.

Hmmmm?

The mommie also tries not to get jealous when I see two certain little girls in his classroom coming up with excuses to play in his head.

Grrrrrr!

I know, I know. I'll get over myself soon.

But to finish my thought: I'm proud of this little person that God has placed into my keeping. My son made a decision about and for himself and continues to have to self-confidence to stand by that decision despite the occasional nay-sayer or negative comment that come his way.

I'm a nonconformist myself and I know the internal strength that is required when you decide to swim against the tide. I have to admit though that it took me way longer than age 9 to develop the confidence to step out and do me.

Therefore it is the strength of his character that makes me most proud.

Happy Anniversary, baby!

Pictures are coming in the next day or so!!

21 months and Counting!

We initially put in our little plaits Oct 12, 2008. We are now 3 months shy of 2 years of loc'ing my son's hair. I must admit, I'm surprised we're still at it. I was afraid that he would have either changed his mind by now or allowed our disgruntled relatives to talk him into cutting it.

It hasn't happened.

It's been awhile since I've updated. But as you may be able to see from these pictures, his hair has grown quite a bit. He has reached his primary goal; that is, they shake every time he move his head, so he's tickled pink! His new goal is for the hair to grow down to his butt.

We'll see.


Anyway, my routine is still very simple. I continue to latch, every 1-2 months. It goes so much faster now that it's longer (or maybe I've gotten better at doing it?). I condition wash his hair weekly and then rub on a homemade leave in made up of conditioner, castor oil or glycerin (depends on the season of the year). For daily moisture, I mix conditioner, castor oil and water in a bottle and spray lightly. This keeps his hair very soft and touchable. Ask the little girls in his classroom who can't keep their hands out of it.

The only issue I have is the soft curls at the base of his neck refuse to stay plaited and refuses to loc! Every month I plait it up and within days, they are free and laughing at me in defiance. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Seven Months

I've been MIA for awhile; busy with work, motherhood, authorhood and a zillion other things that are pulling on me, and so my child's blog has been left to languish on it's own.

His hair is growing beautifully. My routine remains the same: I'm washing twice a month and latching about once a month. As it's getting longer, there is more time in between latching cause I just like the thickness and fullness of his hair.

I am considering enrolling him in a private school in the fall. During the interview and tour, we were told that we would have to cut his hair because locs were not considered appropriate and went against the dress code. I think it's a testament to our commitment to locs, because both myself and my son are seriously considering whether this is the school for us, despite it's stellar reputation. Turns out, I was speaking to the wrong person and the dress code only states that his hair should not fall below his collar. We can do that.

Anyway, I have been taking pictures of his progression but I think I'll just post the most recent.

Four Months

We have been loc'ing for four months now and things are still progressing well. I had intended to take a couple pictures at mid-month to show you what his hair looked like between latchings and to show the amount of new growth. I'll try to remember to do this next month.

I noticed a few more buds this time and the ends of each plait are more or less sealed. Our routine is the same: shampoo without conditioner every two week. Daily moisturizing with the vegan oil. I am so in love with how soft and cushy his hair is; I play in his hair every chance I get; it's a wonder one or more of those plaits haven't fallen off!

I'm the only one of us who is impressed though. His goal is for these plaits to get long enough and heavy enough to shake. Until then, it's just mommy playing around.

Three months

Today was wash and latch day. Our little babies are growing nicely. I noticed a couple more buds, so I know the loc process is well underway.

My biggest challenge now is keeping lint and dog hair out of his locs. My child is all boy and I guess somewhere in his mind, why sit in a chair, when I can roll all over the floor? There are times when he has more red hair in his head (we have a red dachsund, weenie dog) that his own black locs.

Some is inevitable, I know, but I'm trying to minimize. He has been sleeping in a stocking cap at night, but I think this is drying his hair, and it doesn't really protect well against lint. I think I will pick up a satin sleeping cap and see if that works better. If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to leave it in the comments.

Have a great weekend.

Budding

I am so excited. I washed my son's hair this past weekend, and latched a few of the more loose ones, admiring how quickly his hair grows. So, as I petted and loved on each loc, I realized that the first budding had taken place!

I believe I mentioned in the previous post that his ends had stopped unraveling; I was already excited to reach that milestone, but this past weekend, I noticed that there are 5 or 6 of his little babies that had clearly entered the loc'ing process!

So, while I was oohing and ahhing over the buds, my son's only question was and still is,

"Can I shake them yet?"

"Nah, not yet, babe. But we're getting there!"

Two months

Not much of an update. I am following the routine of washing every two weeks with diluted Bronner's Castile shampoo and latching once a month. My skills with the latch hook are improving and it only took probably an hour to complete his whole head.

I rub his hair daily with our vegan oil mentioned in the previous post, and wrap it in a stocking cap at night to minimize collecting lint and to keep the plaits laying flat. That's pretty much our routine.


The hair is not yet loc'd, but the ends have stopped unravelling, so hopefully we'll start to see buds soon.