[Aveasmom]

Hey guys, I have been really curious, Avea's hair is curly. I absolutely love it!! Although I think the straight is gorgeous too.
Just wondering if anyone knows if this means something. Mayan's usually have straight hair, RIGHT? Her mother has straight hair, so it is probably from her father. There are very few Guatemalan kids that I have seen on here with curls. I am just curious. I'll attach a picture of her. s41100cc116471_1_0 (Large).jpg

Picture Ninas wedding and Avea 027 (Large).jpg

Picture Ninas wedding and Avea 066 (Large).jpg

[kiplingmom]

B-E-A-U-TIFUL GIRL!!!

I don't really have an answer for you. My dd has just a slight curl to her hair, but not like your daughter's curls. Too cute!

[guatparents2be]

The indigenous Mayans do tend to straight hair, but like everywhere there is a lot of mixing of different ethnicities in Guatemala.

Often the curly hair comes from having some ancestry from a group on the coast of Guatemala called the Garinagu who are of mixed descent themselves.
According to Wikipedia, the Garinagu are descendants of Carib, Arawak and African people.

I am about to do the test from National Geographic called the Genographic Project. It traces the migration of the child's ancestors via DNA. The only problem for you is that you can only test the female side for girls so that might or might not help you.

[annaguat]

Four children from Gautemala. Three of them have cruly hair. I know two of my children are part African and by the picture of the bio mother I think my third one is too. Only one has stick straight hair. Your daughter is gorgeous. Anna

[stephjoel99]

My daughter's hair is solid ringlets - ala Shirley Temple. Her birth mother had the same curls from the pics I saw. She had all Hispanic surnames. Obviously no info on birth father. Mimi is VERY dark, though. So I would say she's definitely got a lot happening as far as her ancestry.

[MamaS]

My Sissy is also Mayan. When she came she had those lovely soft curls, but as she grew older she lost the "baby curls" and her hair grew thicker, darker, and straighter. Enjoy your beautiful baby!

[avoel]

My oldest DD, who is now 6 has curls as well. Actually it has been and is a developing process...her hair was wavy as a baby, and seems to progress to more and more curls every day. She now has ringlets and wakes up with a full blown out of control frizzy bed head every day! I can dry it straight at night and in the morning...boing!!!!! There are all those curls again. I will admit that it has been a challenge for me to figure out what to do with all that really thick now really curly hair on a really active little girl who has no patience for getting her hair done!

[AngelQT]

Both Angelena and Angelo have curly hair. Angelena's hair goes down to the middle of her behind when it is wet, but when it is dry, the bottom 4-5 inches curl up like Shirly Temple Curls... Angelo... Well lets just say, I don't want to cut his hair cuz I love his curls. I have cut the front of his hair but the back is getting long... Long enough for a pony tail. I know, I know... But, i just can't cut it... LOVE IT!

[Mariais5]

Our oldest has curly hair also. Friends who live in Guatemala told us she is more hispanic than mayan. They said they could tell because of her facial features, curly hair, surnames, and area she was born.

Her hair is to her bottom and still curls at the ends.. Your daughter is adorable..

[becky]

Bella has a wild, curly, frizzy bundle of hair. I wasn't so curly as a baby, but as it grew in it curled more and more...and now I just can't do a thing with it. It's always in a ponytail, and most days it is braided because it's so big and wild!!

People stop her to tell her how beautiful her hair is. During the summer the last 3-5 inches is completely blonde due to the sun. In fact we had friends last week who asked me if she had a "Hannah Montana" hairpiece stuck on the back of her head. I told them 'no it's her hair', and they said "but it's blonde and she is Guatemalan!!"

It's really odd...but I am assuming with her very light skin and very light hair that she does not have a lot of Mayan ancestry.

[Mommy K]

Your daughter is gorgeous!!!

My dd has beautiful curly hair too and I love it! When dd was born her hair was stick straight-and then fell out and grew into curls-Her Birthmom has long, long curly hair, and is mestizo. Our daughters hair is solid ringlets too, and was very much like your daughter's hair when she was younger. In the sun-our daughters front of her hair is red.

I would love to share hairstyles so if anyone would like to, please pm me & we can trade ideas. Her newest style is 3 pony tails in a line down the center back of her head--It looks like one long ponytail, not as poofy as one pony and stays all day with the help of gel.

[DeeVee]

Your daughter is beautiful! I have no insight as to ancestry, but I can tell you that my daughter's hair is very very curly! It is also very dry and coarse, so I don't wash it very often and use lots of product in it (leave-in conditioner and styling gels to tame the frizz). Her hair is actually past her shoulders when wet (I've never cut it, but it grows slowly) and it shrinks into very tight curls when dry.

My son's hair is what I'd call wavy, and a very different texture from Carolina's.

Neither Carolina nor Jesse have typically Mayan facial features, so I'm guessing there isn't much Mayan in them. But it's just a guess.

[mombyfaith]

When DD was that age she had hair that looked just like that. Now that she is 4 it is alot longer & more curls.
I have pics of her birthmom and her hair was very long, thick and I do beleive it would have had curls if it hadn't been cut in long layers.
We are always getting comments on DD's beautiful curls but boy it sure is hard to comb in the morning!
Your daughter is absolutely beautiful!

[CEB]

As the mom of a straight haired boy - I dont have any words of wisdom...but I just had to say WOW- Avea has grown sooo much since I last saw her and she has become even more beautiful! It was really nice to see recent pictures so thanks for posting

[annaguat]

My now adult DD had her hair always tied up but is now embracing it and has it loose. She puts hand lotion in it and does not comb it. Also those clips are great for grabbing sections and creating hair styles. We do multiple pony tails or French braids in the 3 yr olds hair. Anna