H is for hairstyles

Xena's hair is now longer than my hair ever has been (or will ever be, going by my low tolerance for Singapore's hot weather). I love her long curly hair, and thankfully so does she. Sometimes I marvel at how far my almost-bald baby has come along. We didn't do any mundan for her because I don't believe there's a point to it, and I definitely don't believe there is any scientific backing to the widely held belief that post-mundan hair is thicker. I've also never had it cut professionally. I only trimmed it twice, at home, that too because the comb was starting to get stuck in the curls.

As I was going through all her photos for the bike post, I realised how much her hair and hairstyles have transformed over the years and I told myself that I needed to do a photo post. Doing up photo posts is rather tedious and time-consuming, but once you're done with the trouble of selecting, chronologically sorting and uploading the pictures, what you have in front of you is a time-lapse view of how your kid has grown over the years.

At birth, she hardly had any hair and it sure took a loooong time for it grow. I couldn't wait for her hair to grow long enough for me to start experimenting with it, like how my sister used to do with mine!

I'd run out of patience by the time she was 6 months old, and so I bought this hairband with plastic hair attached on both ends. It looked quite real! 

This is her 'achhi bachi' look (aka hair plastered to forehead) I created when we applied for her Australian visa for her first ever vacation. 

This was at her 1st birthday party. Check out the two hairclips holding on for dear life to the hardly-there hair. 

And this was the Presley look I gave her, a few months after she turned one. 

But look, the hair had started growing! Enough to make the universally known 'coconut tree' hairstyle! Of course, the elastic band would slip off or be pulled out within 3.56 seconds. 

This was her standard hairstyle from the time she was 1.5 years old to the time she was almost 2. Just a big flowery clip. Nothing else could be done with that hair. 

By age 2, her hair had grown but it was so curly it never seemed to show any length. Except for times like this. Evil, evil mommy. 

This was for racial harmony day at school. I dressed her up in a cheongsam and put on a bindi and some bangles. It couldn't get any more racially harmonised. This was probably also the first time I tried to make two ponytails on her hair. Princess Leia is probably turning in her fictional grave. 

By the age of 2.5, the two ponytails were looking somewhat normal. Hurray!

At one point, I even got adventurous and tried two braids!

This was just before her 3rd birthday. To keep the flyaways in the front from... errr... flying away, I used to make 'beads' with colourful rubber bands. 

The beaded look with mini butterfly clips

I got quite obsessed with the beaded look, as you can see. I think I still am. 

However, this remained the go-to hairstyle whenever we were was short of time. 

The ponytails were getting a little more structured now, so I felt free to embellish away. Her clip collection was growing at an alarming rate.

Beads at the beach!

Age 3.5. Bali trip. My mom came up with the idea of the flower hairstyle. I wish it looked half as cool on my hair as it did on hers. :|

This was a weird hairstyle she came up with. She calls it 'the doggy' because according to her, the two ponytails at the top resemble the floppy ears of a dog. 

4th birthday. You can tell I wasn't sick of the beads yet. I bought thinner elastic bands so that the beads wouldn't be so 'clunky'. 

Gosh, when did her hair get so long??

Age 4.5 - This was for a puja at a neighbour's house. 

A variation of the doggy -- the doggy braid!

Of course, the 'Indian good girl' look was a staple, especially during holidays. This was taken in Yercaud in January this year. 

A beaded variation of the two braids, done for Chinese New Year celebrations at school

And finally, one of my favourites -- the no-hairstyle hairstyle, one that I often sport on my head too!

This post is turning out to be way longer than I originally intended, so I'm going to split it into two parts. Stay tuned to see the 'I for Intricate' hairstyles that I've lately been trying out on her hair!