practice, practice, practice

OK. The weirdest internet purchase that I have ever made arrived in the mail today. Brace yourselves. It's not what it seems like. It's not real. So don't freak out on me.



You'll be gratified to know that I'm not collecting human heads just for the thrill of it. Though I admit it would be a good Halloween prop. No, this is so that I can prepare myself for the most difficult of possible circumstaces, hair-care wise, when we bring home our Ethiopian daughter. I'm learning soooo much about things like Black hair care right now... like, did you know that the reason why little black girls run around with amazing amounts of intricate braids is so that their hair doesn't dry out and break off because of too much brushing/exposure to drying air? And that if it weren't braided, it wouldn't grow beyond a couple of inches? So, with some African hair, it's very important to keep it braided. And I'm learning.

Here are my first box braids, executed today.




And here are my first cornrows.




A little shaky. And I'm not going to tell you how much hair ended up in the comb. Good thing I've got lots of time to practice. Hopefully, by the time we bring her home, I'll be good enough at it that I can manage it on a real human head, without making it hair torture.