Cowlicks

I've said before that the first thing I noticed when we picked up a five-day-old Tanner from the hospital in Kansas City was that cowlick right in the middle of his forehead. The cowlick is part of what makes Tanner Tanner. I thought to myself, "The kid's only five days old, but I already know he's going to hate that thing when he's a teenager."

That day has arrived. He was combing his hair tonight before he went to bed. When I asked him why he was combing his hair before going to bed, he told me that he'd put too much gel in the front and that he was trying to get some of it out. He admitted that he was using gel to try to hide his cowlick. When I told him that it was just so darned cuuuuuuute, he rolled his eyes and told me that was the problem. He says he's tired of people coming up to him at school and affectionately poking him in the forehead. (If the offenders are cute girls, though, he might not mind so much in another year or two.)

It could get worse. Maybe someday he'll go bald. Perish the thought! Then he'll want his cowlick back, right? We have no idea if there's baldness in his genetic makeup. Time will tell.