Alo-“what”-a?
Tiago has alopecia. It sounds scary but it is not. Many people have asked me about his hair, so I thought I would share with you about it here. When Tiago’s hair started growing after he was born it came in in a mohawk. I was asked about 237987289723 millions times when he was like four and five months old if we shaved his head into a mohawk. I mean really people???? NO! Anyways, at the time we did not know that he had alopecia. We just thought his hair was growing in funny because some babies’ hair just does. Then it started getting longer and curlier, but never really came in on the sides. Around the time he was fourteen months old it just started falling out. It was a bit alarming at first, but I knew that a lot of babies shed their hair early on and then grow new hair. Tiago’s just fell out with nothing coming in to replace it. Here is the great news: alopecia does not affect anything but HAIR. He is perfectly healthy. From a medical stand point we are told that there is no way to know when or even if it will grow back in. They say that if someone loses their hair that early in life that they are not likely to get it back. James and I however have witnessed many miracles in our lives as well as many others’ lives, so we are choosing to believe for hair. I just wanted to share this with you because it is totally fair of you to wonder why our almost two year old only has a couple of teeny tiny patches. WE have already had many people approach us and ask questions like “Is he ill?”. While at the park one day I heard a kid yell and then point to Tiago he was saying, “Mama, no tiene pelo, no tiene pelo.” James only speaks Spanish to the boys so I know a little myself, at least enough to know he was saying “that kid has no hair”. This is a great website and community of people who have alopecia if you are ever interested in learning more, seeing pictures, or reading stories of others who live with alopecia. To us, it is no big deal. He is still the loveliest kid I have ever seen. Here are some photos of his hair progression. If you have any questions, feel free to leave it in a comment. I would love for more people to learn about alopecia.
With A Freshness 
Tiago is an adorable and amazing child. I love that you guys aren’t putting any limitations on what his powerful little body is capable of doing. Thanks for sharing this post. You two are setting a great example for these boys 🙂
Thanks girl.
I once saw a button with the saying “God made a few beautiful heads and the rest he covered with hair.” I gave it to a bald friend of mine.
Ha. I like that Phyllis.
While any first-hand alopecia experience I have seems to be of the “normal middle-aged man hairline retreat” variety, and not of the more disconcerting “two-year-old with an unintended mowhawk” variety, I thought I would pass on two things:
First, as mowhawks go, that one is pretty killer, so go Tiago!
Second, one of my closest and best friends in grade school had childhood alopecia. His parents kept his thin and wispy hair buzzed very close and despite their best intentions, it was obvious that there simply was minimal hair on his head.
This did NOT stop him from being exceptionally popular, and throughout his school years he had no end of girls and buddies who wanted to rub his head for good luck and whatnot.
As he never had a lot of hair, he never put much personal emphasis in the value of his hair, and as such he never felt held back by what was on his head and instead focused on what was in it.
I suspect Tiago has the same advantage. He has a family that loves him and will feed his self-image, and more importantly his self-worth; and those are far better gifts than genetically perfect hair.