Thank you all! Such invaluable feedback.
@Jaime - right? This will be so useful for our hair ispo moving forward!
I like #7 too, but as I think about it, I don't think tat will work for my hair anymore. That pic was taken the day of the haircut, with a ton of styling goop in my hair to straighten the curl into a wave and make it sit just so. The truth is that it grew into bouncy curls in just a couple of weeks and looked totally different.
I like Carla's #2 suggestion (agreeing that it's slightly different than the pic she posted afterward), and, surprisingly, the mohawk. I might stick with what I have (#2) as it grows out very quickly, or maybe go with Carla's #2.
Honestly it's a bit of a moot point now as i still don't have an appointment booked! I go to a very niche curly hair salon that is quite small and they haven't even started booking yet. Let's hope it's before October (ack!)