A few weeks ago, I wanted Joe to get a professional barber cut to “clean up” my clip job before our photo shoot. Dan was skeptical, but took him in. There was a slight misunderstanding at the barber shop and Joe’s beautiful little starter ‘fro was shorn down to 3/16″. I screamed when the boys walked into the house. Then I cried and we both moped around the rest of the day. On the plus side, it was a good haircut. It helps that Joe is a cutie patootie and has a nicely shaped head. The good news is that hair grows. The bad news is that we don’t want to wait. This photo was taken on March 25th, the day Joe got his head shaved. We learned some interesting things that day, like the fact that most AA kids don’t get first haircuts until age 2 (according to the barber, though why he waited to tell Dan that until after the haircut, I’m not sure). Well, one lesson learned: no more haircuts for Joe. We’re goin’ natural. I think. Depends on his hair texture, which seems to be straight/wavy more than kinky/curly. It’s already almost 3/4″ long and still pretty straight. I found a nearby beauty shop familiar with adoptive families asking the obvious questions about AA hair, so I might head over there tomorrow.