Your Authors Are Bald

Yesterday was spent perusing some of the videos of Jake at six months to a year old. Despite being nearly twice the size of Olivia, they looked so much alike. It is so clear they are siblings; some of the video is practically interchangeable between the two kids.

The other striking similarity is the fact that in the video, as in present day, their mother looks like she just went through chemotherapy.

I am one of those unfortunate people who lose hair, practically a headfull, after having a baby. Most of you women reading this had a really thick mane during pregnancy--a result of those hormones telling your body to store up on everything, including tresses. I have thin hair anyway, so pregnancy gave me a normal amount of hair. I only needed three twists of a scrunchie to make a tail. But starting at about three months postpartum, my hair packs up and moves out. Large fistfuls in the shower, unfortunate clumps in my brush throughout the day, strands wrapped--tourniquet style--around Olivia's poor fingers, matted nests on my pillow during the night.

It grows back, slowly. But then I look forward to a year of two different hairlengths. No, no, I protest, Carol Brady's "do" was not my haircut of choice. That period of loss/growout (and subsequently despised family photos) is really painful for me, and it is not fair that the prettiest hair in the house belongs to Jake and the dog. I already deal with the fact that they sport the longest eyelashes.

And Walter, I apologize. I am keenly aware that the key sentence for you in this post is jumping out at you and slapping your face: It grows back, slowly.