The other day I was buying some stakes at Home Depot and the cashier commented that, like David, her daughter was bald as a baby. She said she started washing it more and, guess what? Her hair grew! Maybe I should try that!
Strangers make comments all the time. No, I don’t cut David’s hair. Nope, never. I don’t shave it either. I have to mentally and physically prepare myself for the kicking and twisting and screaming that happens every time I change his diaper, so bringing a blade anywhere near his face isn’t high on my list of things to do.
My family has bald babies, so I sort of expected David estar pelón.
[That is, “to be bald”. Spanish seems appropriate because I never used “pelón” before, but now? Every single conversation.]
David’s cousin Ellie was a bald baby, too.
Ellie is a few months younger than David in this photo, but I had to post this one because it’s how I earned the “World’s Best Aunt” plaque that hangs beside my “Mother of the Year” trophy.
Here are cousins Abram and John Amos around a year old.
In Spanish, pelón means you only have a little hair. Calvo means you are totally bald. When I was a kid, I was CALVO.
If you’re thinking, “yeah, I was a bald foooorever!” You probably mean that you were bald until you were maybe 2 years old.
This is me around David’s age, looking very chubby and very bald.
Bald 10-month olds are normal. This is me at maybe three. My parents called me Onion Head.
I used to tape ribbons to my bald, calvo head.
Tom thinks photos of me as a kid are weird because I look so different than I do now. This is me around five years old. Or maybe four? Either way, I’m bald. I remember that seal float; I loved it. I could swim at that age, but why would you swim if you had a seal float?
This is when I started to get hair. I think this is first grade, finally pelón. This is the time in most girls’ lives when they have hair down to their waists. Not me. I was so desperate for hair that I happily ate liver and spinach for dinner because my mom told me it would help my hair grow.
How old do you think Tom is here? Two? Three? At least old enough to drive a boat.
David’s starting to get a little hair, especially in the past few weeks. I’m hoping that when he does grow hair, he has blonde curls like his daddy.
But I also don’t mind if they don’t come for a while.
My little pelóncito.
God only makes a few perfect heads…the rest He has to put hair on!
The child in the left swing appears to be embarrassed to be seen with onion head. I wonder if your Mom got asked if you were sick a lot. I have a friend whose son DOES have cancer and whenever he is bald, strangers always want to ask about it. Cause, ya know, that’s what she LOVES talking about. I’m sorry (read:not at all) that I laughed at the picks of you as a kid. It’s because the Phillips’ are a hairy bunch. Let’s go ahead and say David has to marry Gracie just for the hair of your grandchildren. 😉
Wow you weren’t kidding when you said you were bald for a long time!! ( i thought you were exaggerating)…my fault. Baldness is becoming on you and David though! 🙂
"Old enough to drive a boat." You are funny. Very funny.
I heard once that when a baby is bald for a long time it means their hair will grow in curly! So far very true for the two curly haired babies I know 🙂
You were always referred to as "he" by strangers. Isn’t "he" a beautiful baby. You had low blood and the doctor said to "try and get" you to eat liver and spinach. So, that’s how it started. If you eat your "food" you’ll have beautiful, long hair. Something worked!!
oh my gosh, i am laughing outloud at this post. you are hysterical! and, i LOVE the calvo pictures. (didn’t know the word calvo, either). your peloncito is precioso. 🙂
Bryce and I are sitting at Mill Mountain and you have us literally LOL’ing at this post. First because you are such a great writer and second, because I think all of these pictures are sooo cute and fun. Old childhood pictures are hilarious. I don’t know if I’ve seen a cuter peloncito than yours in that last picture!
whoa! you are a mini-David..or should I say David is a mini-Amanda..in the cutest of ways 🙂
i think so, too 🙂 he also looks more like his cousins on my side of the family.
HOW DID I MISS THIS LAST YEAR.
A fab post … in our family it’s the reverse we start off with loads and lose it all early! Thanks so much for sharing at #EmptyYourArchive – Alice
Oh, I love you for posting this! My little guy is nearly two and is barely starting to graduate from invisible blond peach fuzz to barely visible blond tufts above his ears. I’m white and my husband is Chinese, so Baby Boy’s head is characterized by two enormous dark brown eyes and not much else – just a vast expanse of invisifuzz. I like it. I like to rub my cheek on his downy little head. And he’s my fourth child, so the less maintenance the better! But my Chinese neighbors, whose babies are blessed with two-inch-long shocks of silky jet black hair at birth, are always troubled by the baldness. “Shave it twice and it will grow in,” they helpfully suggest. Uh, no thanks.
hahah! so many people have suggested i shave my son’s head, too! i just nod and say, “oh! that sounds like a good idea!”
he’s almost 4 and the hair on top of his head is still barely there 🙂 bald babies are the best, amen?