The Baranko Family: Hair Twirling Maniac

Oh my goodness, Claire's hair twirling has reached a new level. She used to do it now and then, but it hadn't really become a real problem. It has fast and furiously become a big problem. She now twirls her hair to the point of impossible-to-ever-get-out teeny tiny knots in a matter of minutes. She does it at night, in the car, during her nap, in the middle of playing with toys, you name it. It is an addiction! We need to have an intervention! She twirls her hair around her finger and cuts off the circulation, especially when she tries to pull it off herself and just pulls it tighter. We used to let her fuss a little until she went back to sleep if we heard her in the middle of the night, but now we have to rush in there to make sure she's not losing a finger from lack of blood flow. Her beautiful hair, a remarkable feature of hers since birth, is now looking pretty raggedy on the right side (the only side she twirls on). We try not to have to cut out the knots, but some of them seriously will not come out no matter how patient you are. Between Matt, Isolene and I we now have a system that Claire at all times has to have braids in her hair and/or baby oil or conditioner - especially at nap time, car time or bedtime which is when she does it the most. The braids help a lot, but she still can work hair out of the braid and twirl it, which is why the back up grease is needed. Even with those measures being taken, the knots are definitely not a thing of the past. Why do I have the feeling our hair twirling journey has just begun? Matt has already suggested we cut her hair, but I'm not ready!

Anyway, here are some pics from the week and a video, too!

Matt needed to learn how to braid - pronto! Here he is practicing with some ribbons. Whatta guy!

Saturday we went to visit my college teammate Jenni Bean and her family

I finally got to meet her third baby girl Maci, such a cutie

Kylie, Aubrey, Luke & Claire had a blast running around and playing together. Claire can keep up with the big kids now, in select kid-friendly settings, which meant Matt and I were free to catch up with Jenni & Eric! A whole new era of parenting!

A nice place for Spumoni to rest his head

The wonder of snow! Love Luke catching the snow on his tongue and Claire feeling it hit the palm of her hand

The next day we got bundled up for the first time this year - had to find all those boots/snowpants/hats/mittens.

First little snowman of the season!

There was hardly any snow, but Luke REALLY wanted to make a snowman. Matt was so nice and helped him make this little guy. You can see how little he really is next to Lukers.