March 6, 2009

Owen graduated from wearing his helmet today!

If you remember my original post about getting Owen fitted for the helmet, you'll recall that I said he had to wear a stocking over his face that made him look like a bank robber. Don't you agree!

He did SO much better this time while taking the 'after' pictures. He was able to sit up straight on the stool and look right at the camera. The whole process took mere seconds, as opposed to the first time when we tried for about 45 minutes and were still unsuccessful. He was a champ!

Here's the image that the 360degree cameras took. Check out how round his head is! Click here for the full (and last!) update on his helmet.

This was a big day! The helmet came off and Owen was sitting mostly unattended.

February 20, 2009

We're waiting for the doctor to come in and measure Owen's head and take new measurements. He has to be naked so his clothes don't get in the way of the picture, and he was so cuddly while we were waiting. Click here for the helmet update.

February 1, 2009

Here we go Steelers, Here we go! And now... the official unveiling of Owen's new helmet design.

He was the HIT of the Super Bowl party we attended (which was with 500 Steeler-fan-strangers). We went to a sports bar called Austin's, an unofficial Steelers bar. (I have to admit that I kept thinking of that line from Sweet Home Alabama... "You have a baby... in a bar...") Everyone in the joint was wearing their black and gold, waving their Terrible Towels and chanting Steelers' songs. The boys had their Steelers onesies and bibs, but Owen completed the outfit with his helmet... which everyone wanted a picture of! Seriously - about 20 strangers asked us if they could take his picture! We should have set up a booth and charged a fee : ) Some people were asking us where we bought his helmet (as if we were just having him wear it for fun!) We have to admit though, it was extremely cute! And now we'll have a momento to remember that the Steelers were the champions of Super Bowl XLIII!

January 30, 2009

Owen had his one month check up for his helmet this morning and things are looking great! The doctor thinks we're more than halfway through - and that he'll only need about 3 more weeks! Our appointment next week will include new measurements, so we'll know more then, but it was encouraging to see the mold of his head before we started this process to compare it to how he looks today. Such progress! Look how much rounder his head is!

January 27, 2009

A work in progress... stay tuned!

January 9, 2009

Even though the boys start the night parallel to each other, more often than not, this is how I'll find them in the morning. Last night was rough though on poor Eli though. He and Owen started out about a foot away from each other, as always, but managed to inch their way closer and closer until their heads were touching, as always. Last night was different though - Owen was tossing and turning (more his head than his body) and every time he'd turn his head he'd bang his helmet into Eli, waking him up. He even woke up with a scratch on his cheek from the Velcro on Owen's helmet. That woke me up about 8 times... it was rough on all of us!

I'm hoping this doesn't go down in the "Bad Mom Hall of Fame" as a criminal offense! Eli will hold Froggy in a hug until he's about ready to sleep and then put him right on top of his face. He loves it! Lots of times I'll see this on the monitor and sneak into their room to move the blanket only to discover him licking the satin in his sleep!

Two nights ago I put Owen in bed first and then fed Eli and put him in bed. They both usually go right to sleep, but Eli just kept crying. I watched him on the monitor for awhile and then went in to put his paci back in, only to see that I had forgotten to put Owen's helmet back on before I put him in bed. I got it out of the bathroom, put in on him, and Eli fell right to sleep! I think he was trying to tell me something! Pretty cool, huh?

January 4, 2009

"This helmet isn't so bad... in fact, it keeps my head nice and warm!"

Owen's helmet wearing days are going pretty well. There's already a huge and noticeable difference in his head and he doesn't seem to mind it at all.I just feel bad for him when he cries because it makes his head sweat pretty badly. He's a trooper though, and I'm glad that the first week has gone this well.

December 30, 2008

And now... the picture you've all been waiting for - Owen got his helmet today! Now that it's on him, it's not quite as bad as I was imagining, but then again, I'm not the one wearing it. He made it through the first night with it, only waking up a few times. Those few times were rough though. When I went in to check on him, he was practically punching himself in the face trying to claw it off. He's tolerating it much better now and hopefully soon he won't even realize that he's wearing it. We're planning on painting it (would a Steelers helmet in Dallas be a bad way to meet people?!), but only have small windows of opportunity every day to make progress since he has to wear it 23 hours a day.

December 18, 2008

This is a before shot of Owen's head. You can see that it's shaped more like a parallelogram than an oval and his left ear sticks out much more than his right. It might sound like that's a cosmetic problem, but it could and probably would lead to hearing problems in the future because it would compress his eardrums if we don't get it fixed.

December 17, 2008

Owen's helmet appointment was a lot more exhausting for him than I think any of us had imagined. After we got the boys home, which was at least 9 hours after we left that morning, all Owen wanted to do was sleep... but because he was so worn out, he wanted a little cuddle time too. He fell asleep on me and then I slid him off onto the couch where he camped out for another 2 hours. He's never willing to sleep on his belly, so he must have been super tired. And yes, the white specks in his hair are the remainder of the plaster mold they made of his head. Poor baby : (