I shave my baby's head and preserved my baby's umbilical cord!

To be honest, I was initially very hesitant about doing this, mainly because everything did not seem to go that smoothly in the first month. My milk supply was low, my body was frail, I was exhausted...from planning the little one's first month party and was still coming to terms with my new body. But...I have to say upon receiving the package, I was very glad I went ahead with my first gift to our child. 

You may have seen other parents do it during the first month (some 100 days, others at 4 months), they would shave their baby's hair. There is no particular significance in doing it, but it is to allow the subsequent hair growth to be more even and thicker. I didn't know at that time, but apparently, baby's infant hair will start dropping at around 4 months. Eeeks, that explains why some babies have a patchy head. 

Our baby had quite a bit of hair and by his first month his umbilical cord has fallen. I am quite a hoarder so I actually kept his first nails and the umbilical cord. My Mum reminded me that the umbilical cord would decay if I didn't keep it properly and that set me thinking on how to preserve it. Eventually, I decided I would make some keepsakes out of them. 

I heard that calligraphy brushes made out of the infant's hair was of the best quality so I decided to make a set for him. We arranged a meeting with Huat Sing. Don't fret about the packages and what comes in it because their staff will bring the samples for you to see on that day and you can decide whether to upgrade them. (Note: A pricier product may not necessarily suit your liking, I preferred the design of a cheaper stamp and a more expensive brush.)

We eventually took up Package E6 with Huat Sing and went ahead with the auspicious hair-cutting ceremony (complimentary with the package) on our baby's full month celebration. It was the highlight of the day. Can you imagine how boring it would have been without it? Baby's grandparents came with great anticipation to witness this. 

I admit I am quite a cheeky Mum and Huat Sing being quite accomodating allowed me to try 4 different hairstyles for my baby. For info, some mothers decide not to go all bald for the baby (esp. if it is a baby girl) for fear that they won't look cute. For such cases, snippets of hair enough to make a brush would be took. Personally, I really love the mohawk and the tuft but we decided to "monk" him instead so that he will have even hairgrowth.

The haircut ceremony was very smooth. Our child did not wake up during the whole procedure and for the ritual there was not too much preparation work as well. You just had to prepare 2 red eggs (圆圆满满）, 2 oranges （心想是成）, some spring onions (聪明伶俐）and Mee Sua  (长命百岁） as well as some red packets to keep the baby's hair. 

Overall, I would have to admit it was quite a fun process and provided quite a bit of photoshoot moments. Also, I guess baby is only young once, so no harm just doing it. The whole set of scholarly tools actually represents the parents well wishes for their children（望子成龙， 望女成凤）. Whether you believe such rituals, you have to admit that the products make good keepsake to be displayed on their study table in future. 

We presented the gift set to our baby when he was 100 days old. Because we did a grander affair on this first month (read it here), we decided to go simple this time round. We made a simple photo booth (out of leftover decos, am I creative or what?) and used the brush made of his hair and the stamp which consisted of his umbilical cord and hair as part of the backdrop, looks pretty dope, don't you think. 

We were very satisfied with the products by Huat Sing. Thanks to the sealed stamp, baby's umbilical cord can be perfectly preseved. Also, the quality of the products are quite superior and on top of that, it comes with lifelong warranty. Most importantly, they are quite transparent with their pricing (mine cost around $250 eventually). If you are quite particular about the designs, you can even go down to the workshop at Woodlands. They do have other products such as accessories and hand-foot prints. 

I thought this was quite interesting for those who are curious on what goes behind the scene, seems quite a lot of work, don't you think?