He is now a Manchild

9/17/09

Ever since Brian and I got married, I dreamed of having a little curly headed baby. Between the two of us it was bound to happen, right? Time went by and Miles and Aidan came along, both with strait hair. I was so head over heals in love with them, that the fantasy of a curly headed baby was replaced with images of their chubby little faces. That was of course, until I found out I was pregnant. I once again started daydreaming about a little girl with ringlets, or a little boy with a white man afro. Note exibits below.

Brian is the one wearing the white man afro on the left.

This charming little girl is me, circa 1983.

The very first time I saw Luca, he had tight little pin-curls all over his little head. Needless to say, I was thrilled. But, within a few months all of his little baby hair fell out and his little bald head shined with all it's glory. Over the next year it steadily grew in. Everyone watched to see if he'd be a curly head. Sure enough, it began to curl. I adored the curly little wings over his ears. They were just irresistible. For some reason they grew faster than the rest of his hair.

Before too long, Brian was getting restless, and began trying to persuade me to cut his curls. He told me that people would think Luca was a girl. I didn't think so at all. Anyone could plainly see that he was all boy. When that didn't work, he decided to play dirty. Knowing my extreme dislike of all things clown, he said that Luca's hair was beginning to look like Bozo. I wouldn't hear of it. I told his that he didn't look like Bozo at all. If he looked like any celebrity, it had to be John Krasinski. Clearly, Brian's fears stirred up memories of when he was a child and had a curly white man afro. Apparently, everyone thought they were boy/girl twins, Brian being the girl. I finally caved, but only so that the rest of his hair has a chance to catch up with his wings. Rest assured, there will be a white man afro in Luca's future.

The day finally came. I strapped him into a booster seat at the kitchen table, got out my best shears, and in one snip, my baby's baby hairs were gone. It happened so fast, just like that, he no longer looked like a baby. I truly wanted to cry. Luckily for me, Luca had been working on a new "camera smile" that he decided to unveil just in time to keep my tears from flowing.

There he is. A manchild who is ready for his close up!