the good, the bad, the ugly...the helmet // pt. 5

i know i posted this on instagram the other day but...we are FINALLY DONE WITH THE HELMET!! and i felt like it needed its very own blog post. the picture above is a picture we took shortly before we got the helmet. and below are the pictures i took the day he got his helmet off. such a big difference!! and yes...his hair has grown a lot! (everyone always says that....)

we went in for our last appointment and he got all the way down to a 2 mm difference! started at a 13, and our goal was in between a 5 and a 0. so he did really good! he's just the best...and the helmet...well...it was a love hate relationship.... 

some things we will miss...and some we were definitely ready to be rid of.

list below....

the helmet
 *things we will miss*:

-the protection. i never worried about his growing noggin as he learned to pull himself up, fall down, roll around...he always had his head protected. we were in church last sunday and he was in primary with me and was holding on to the mini chairs, lost balance and fell back on a metal chair.....and i was as cool as a cucumber. he was perfectly fine. just whined a little. the helmet took the blow. he was fine! we will miss that.....

-how cute he looked. we really got used to how he looked in his helmet. and he was pretty darn cute. it got to the point where we thought he looked weird (in a good way) without it! :)

-his grinch hair. i have NO idea how to do his hair now. i mean, boys hair should be pretty simple...but i don't know what to do with it. and before...we would flip a little curl through the hole and it was the cutest little grinch curl i ever saw. 

-the funny looks from strangers. i know that seems weird, but it was kind of fun seeing little kids stare and make funny comments, or making friends with random people in stores who had a daughter/niece/nephew/son/grandson etc. etc. who had to have one as well. it was like a little club we had been initiated into. 

*things we will NOT miss*:

-the smell. his head got stiiiiiinky. he would sweat pretty bad under there, so we would take it off for a little break and it was awful....his head stunk so bad. poor thing.

-washing his head and helmet every. single. night. it got really tiresome at the end of some days having to clean that stinky thing and scrubbing his hair to get that stink out. 

-the bloody noses. ok....so i only got a bloody nose once. but still...he hit me in the face with that dang helmet so many times. it did not feel good. and it made snuggling rather uncomfortable. 

-the rashes. sometimes the helmet would irritate his skin on his neck or forehead and leave sores or rashes or acne or something...whatever it was... it looked unpleasant.

overall it really was a good experience. when we first found out we had to have one i wasn't too thrilled about it. but i'm so glad we did it and his head is a normal shape, now. it sure paid off. he only had to have it on for about 4 months, too. and they say 3-6, so we were still on the low end of it! so there you have it....the story of the football head has finished! goodbye plagiocephaly!

so.....about baby #2

first of all....no i'm not pregnant. although the title of this post may lead you to believe otherwise. i am not. and don't plan to be for quite some time. it's funny because yes, grant is turning one next month... (don't get me started)... and once that year mark starts rolling around people start asking you when the next one is coming. which is silly! it's like... alright people...let me enjoy my first one for a bit! however, i have been thinking about baby #2....you know...because once you start you just can't stop....thanks for that one, pringles. 

but really...once you start having kids there's no going back....you have to keep going. unless you want your kids to be years and years apart (which we don't), you have to plan when to have the subsequent children so there is a decent amount of distance between them, but not too much. so...we have done that...and we have a tentative plan in place for baby #2. which will be for "our eyes only", if you will. :) 

anyway...on to what this post is actually about....

how do people have more children??? i mean..i know "how", but...how?? i mean, i can't imagine loving another little human as much as i love grant. and i know it all works out and your little heart grows three sizes or whatever but....i don't want to share? i don't want to split time....

the other day my friend and i were walking with our babies at the indoor track at the university. my husband met us up there after his class was over so we could go home, but we ended up sitting outside on the hallway couches for a bit talking about life and jobs and school, etc. etc. we decided it was time to go and my friend needed to run back in where the track was to get her diaper bag, so she handed me her 4 month old baby boy to hold til she got back. so i started playing with him! {he is adorable, mind you...}. i started making noises and making him laugh and while doing this, grant was standing next to me holding on to the couch. as i was playing with the baby, i looked down to see what grant was doing and he was smiling up at me with the BIGGEST grin, just watching me play with this other baby and laughing at the sounds and faces i usually do to him to make him laugh. and all the sudden i got SOOOO SAD!!! i felt like i was leaving him out and didn't even notice! i immediately said to norman...is this what it is going to be like when we have another baby? because i already don't like it....and i know that's dramatic...but i just felt like...how am i going to give them both the attention and love they need? 

i know that you "figure it out" and "it all works out", but, it still makes me sad thinking about sharing my time with grant and another one...and then another one...and another. it's overwhelming! i mean, i've always wanted a biggish family. 4 kids. and still do. but i thought being a mom of one was intimidating. when you think of everything you have to be for them and then triple that responsibility? or quadruple it? it's kind of crazy. and feels heavy.

but yes... i know that you "figure it out". i'm just saying.... and i'm sure every mom feels this way...you guys know. and you all did it. and it worked out. this whole motherhood thing is just so daunting sometimes! but i wouldn't want to be anywhere else. and i truly mean that.

***also...side note..we are T-5 days til we are rid of them helmet!(most likely) WOOT WOOT! 

the helmet // pt. 4

look at this boy right now....look at how happy he was at his doctors appointment today. sans helmet. 

we had a helmet appointment today. an appointment that i was very hopeful about since 6 weeks ago the "helmet guy" (i call him the "helmet guy" because he's actually not really a doctor...although in past posts i've been calling him "helmet doctor"..that is incorrect. i'm not sure what he is....he's the "helmet guy". i guess i could call him drew. since that's his name......) ...drew told us that in one or two more appointments (which are every 3 weeks) we would be done!!! well today's appointment marked the "two" of the "one or two more appointments". so we were in some high spirits to be out of this sweaty, stinky-no-matter-how-many-time-i-clean-it head contraption. plus, i have noticed lately that it doesn't really fit grant the way it used to. and drew did say that once he grew out of it...we would be done. 

so we come in....get his head measured...mind you, at his last appointment there was NO change, so that's why we kept it on another 3 weeks... and he was down to only a 3 mm difference!!! guys!!! he started at a 13 mm difference! our goal is to get to 0 but drew said that that's not always possible but we could get close. and in my opinion....3 is pretty darn close to 0....right?? wrong. 

no, just kidding. it really is close. and during our appointment drew was on the fence about whether it would be worth it to keep him in it for another 3 weeks since, like i thought, grant was starting to outgrow it. buuuuuuut to mine and grant's (i'm sure) dismay....the ultimate decision was to leave it another 3 weeks. sigh. he said that his soft spot isn't as close to being closed as he wants it to be and he's worried if we take it off now his head can shift back a bit since the plates aren't fused yet. so we left... head down...helmet on. 

buuuut it's all good. i'd rather wait another 3 weeks and make sure we get as much fixin out of it as we can! i'm just ready to be done. with teething, and eczema creams, and cleaning hair and helmets every night, i'm ready to be done with one of those things. right???? are you with me, friends?? anyway....so february 17th is the lucky day!! the lucky day we will most likely be helmet freeeeeeeeee!

we.can.do.it.

GC: 9 months / the helmet pt. 3

photo disclaimer: because of the 23/7 helmet wearing situation..yes..he does have helmet lines on his forehead...i'm not good enough to edit such things out. he's still the cutest ever.

excuse the million pictures. they were just all so cute i had to use them all! i'm a couple days early buy we are going out of town with some friends to celebrate the end of finals!! wooooohooooo! so i won't be here on grant's actual "9 month birthday". but in 2 days, this little cutie will be indeed, 9 months old. he will have been outside of me as long as he was inside of me! isn't that weird to think? my pregnancy felt a lot longer than the last 9 months have.....

but we will get to business.

he had a doctors appointment on the 8th and these were his stats:

weight: 19 lbs 14 oz   percentile: 59%

height: 28 3/4"          percentile: 76%

head: 18"                  percentile: 77%

i feel like he's been 19 lbs for forever...the last 3 times i've weighed him he's been just pushing 20 lbs. i asked the doc and of course he reassured me everything was fine and that their weight will level out a bit. i mean...if you look at him...he ain't starvin. but still...a mama worries. :) 

sleep: well the sleeping thing....is never steady. we still do the same routine. but he still wakes up at night, we go in....let him know we aren't gonna pick him up...and he goes back to sleep.... luckily he's only been waking up once so it isn't terrible. one day he'll manage to sleep all the way through the night. but for now, this is doable for us. he still naps twice a day but isn't really a long nap taker. he sleeps for an hour, an hour and half tops. so sometimes we sneak in a third nap if we need to.

eating: still breastfeeding over here! i won't lie, i'm pretty proud of myself. never in a million years did i think i would make it this far at the beginning. i remember when i was struggling at first my mom telling me that she did, too but she stuck with it for about 3 months and i remember thinking oh my heck...i can't do it...three months is so long...i can't do it. it's too hard. but guys.. i'm doing it! and still loving it. a lot of people have told me around 8 or 9 months is when the have stopped, but i don't plan to any time soon. a big part of it is because i love it. another part is that it's super convenient. and another part is because i don't want to try to deal with weaning grant. i don't even know how you wean. and he doesn't take a bottle....or a sippy cup really. so ....that'll be fun eventually. 

we have him eating solids again. veggies...and we just introduced some fruits. he really likes the blueberry apple mix. or whatever that one is. he doesn't eat a ton, though. i'm lucky if i get him through one jar a day. don't know how normal that is. haha. mamas? anything?? 

milestones: we have had some big ones this month!! on december 4th he finally decided to crawl!! well....army crawl. but still! we had some family that were pretty worried about it.. haha...but i knew it would happen. and it did! he just has his own timeline. does what he wants when he wants. :) and now he just follows me around the apartment pulling on my pants to pick him up. that's another thing....he has been veeeeerrrry clingy lately...always wants held. don't know what that's all about....but anyway. he also walks along couches/coffee tables, etc. he's slow and you can tell he really concentrates when he wants to get somewhere but nevertheless....he is moving those little legs! he is still babbling away. the "mama" has digressed a bit...although he does scream it when he's mad. it's kinda funny. we tried to get him to say "dada" the other day and he watches our mouths carefully and tries but hasn't figured it out yet. he claps when we say "yay" and i've been trying to teach him the sign for "more" which he tries to do but ends up clapping. it's close! 

some things to remember:
when we are around people you aren't as familiar with and they start talking to you, you pull this shy move and lay your head on my shoulder and smile. although eventually you will wave at them.
you wave a lot! it's so cute, cause you put your arm up and just move your fist up and down. or you will just throw your whole arm up and flop it back down to your side.
you blow kisses!!! which i guess could be under milestones. but anyway...it's so sweet.
i put on music and sing while i clean and stuff and when i am singing, sometimes i will come up to you and really get into it while moving my head back and forth...so now whenever i start singing to you..you shake your head back and forth with me and smile.
this month we have been dancing to christmas songs in the kitchen and you love to spin. you laugh every time.
you are starting to do better at pulling yourself up to the couch and coffee table. you get the cutest worried face when you feel like you're going to fall though. your dad thinks it's the funniest thing ever. as do i.
we have a jumper that hangs from the door frame. you enjoy that and you do this thing where you jump. jump. jump. then you lock your legs and go stick straight. you do that over and over again. 
you give the best slobbery kisses! when you want to...sometimes you get annoyed at me when i get in your face and want too many kisses. haha. don't worry, i still love you. 



now......the helmet update:

we had an appointment on tuesday and we received good news! he is down to only a 5 mm difference!! i've explained before, but i will quickly again. they measure his head from left front to right back and right front to left back and they should be equal. grants started at a 13mm difference. so we have been trying to get him down to a 0 mm difference. so a 5 is good!! the doc said that he's actually in a range where if we needed to, we could be done with the helmet and his head would correct itself as he got older. but since the helmet still fits, we are going to keep it on to see if we could get the number down a little more. but the doc said if it doesn't change anymore he would still be really happy with that! we meet with him every 3 weeks and he said one or two more appointments and we will probably be done! Grant has only had it for 2 is months so that is good considering they said he would probably have it 3-6 months! woohoo!!! go us!

so there you have it, a lengthy grant update. we are only a week away til christmas and i finally got my last couple presents the other day! yay! that always feels good. i'm so excited for christmas this year with grant! even though he won't understand, i still can't wait to watch him open presents with that concentrated chubby face he gets. it's probably the best ever. 

merry christmas everybody! and happy everything! :)

diaries of a football head /// the helmet pt. 2

^^^before helmet^^^

^^^three weeks in^^^

grant had an appointment yesterday to take measurements on his head to see how he was progressing. by the way....i realized that i didn't explain how the helmet works. and i've had a few ask. honestly, before we got it, i thought it just kept him from sleeping on the already flat spot on his head. not so.

here's how it works...grants back right side of his head and left front forehead area {but only slightly on the forehead} was protruding. so they fit the helmet to hold those two ares so those two areas won't grow out any further....then they leave space on the left back area and front right so as his head grows it will fill in those empty spaces. he will then have a perfectly round head!! ta-da! that's the goal anyway. the doc said that he'll be in the helmet until it's fixed, or until his head outgrows the helmet. he said normally they outgrow it before it's 100% fixed but it gets close enough that as they grow up it fixes itself. 

so...yesterday his measurements were good! there's like a zone they have to be in with their numbers and normal is under a 2. he started at a 2.3 and yesterday he measured 1.7! so that was good. but the real number we are working on is his diagonal ratio. or something....i'm pretty sure that's what it's called. he started at a 13 mm difference the very first time we went in and yesterday he was at an 8! the goal is to get to 0. obviously. 

anywho! while we were waiting for the doc to make some adjustments on his helmet, i snapped a couple "after", or i guess "in the process" pictures. compared to the ones we took pre-helmet, it looks really good! his head is getting less oblong-football-y..and more round/square? any who...moral of the story it's looking good! 

and we decided it's weird because grant looks way different without his helmet on now. we are so used to him wearing it all the time.

the helmet

ahhh the dreaded helmet. the day has come!

they called me a few days ago saying that his helmet had arrived and we were to come in for a fitting to make sure all was well! so today was that day. i already had a volleyball game this evening in idaho falls so we came a little early to pick up his helmet. it ended up fitting really well and only minor adjustments needed made that they did just right there in the doctors office. the doctor said as he put the helmet on grant to adjust some things that he was tolerating it very well from what he was used to. so that's a plus! let's hope we keep that up!

we officially start tomorrow getting him adjusted to the helmet. {i feel like it needs a name...not just "the helmet"} first it's 1 hour on, 1 hour off, then he doesn't sleep with it on at all. then the next day is 2 hours on and 1 off and he doesn't sleep with it. then it's 4 hours on, 1 off and he DOES sleep with it. then it goes up to 8 hours, then to 23 hours. i don't see it being a huge problem. grant is a pretty easy going little fella so i think he will adjust pretty quick. and i know i'm his mom and i always think he's cute, but even with a helmet on...guys....he's still pretty darn cute. 

football player for halloween it is!!

go cornhuskers! :)

plagiocephaly.

plagiocephaly: aka, flat head syndrome.

my dear boy suffers from "plagiocephaly" {i feel like any time you have some kind of something that has a big name like "plagiocephaly" you have to say you "suffer from it"...it just sounds better...am i right?} anyway...he has a crooked head. the first picture is of looking down on his head from the top. you can see the left back corner is waaaay flat, causing his head to be misshaped. we met with a plastic surgeon from primary childrens that we were referred to. he comes up to Idaho Falls every couple weeks, he came to see if grant's head was severe enough to get a helmet. 

he basically took a 10 second look at him and started writing a prescription for the helmet. UGH! i knew this was coming...but it's such a pain! he said it would be 3 months and we would see where we were at from there. he then sent us over to rocky mountain artificial limb and brace to meet with the doctor who would fit him for his helmet. we met with him, he took some measurements and again reaffirmed that he would need a helmet. so we sent up an appointment for a casting.

this brings us to the next pictures. luckily this is how they do castings now. a lot less messy. they put a little sock thing on his head...put some stickers where his ears, nose, and some other things are on his head, and take 45 degree angle pictures which then scans them onto the computer to generate a 3D diagram of his head. it was pretty cool. and i thought he looked so cute with his little squishy cheeks in his little head sock.

we have about a week until the helmet comes in and then we go in for a fitting. should be interesting!! any who...that's about what has been going on around here. helmets and volleyball. the season is a few weeks from being over and i'm so sad! it's been so fun!

hope everyone is having a happy hump day! and can you believe it's already october???? what???? life just goes by way too fast.