Love these times...

You know what the best part of this whole process has been?

The times where we can take the helmet off and just chill.  We don't have to worry about him getting too hot. 

We can get as close as we want without worrying about being headbutted.  We can get right in close for snuggles and kisses. 

When we can swim and laugh and play without anything in our way. 

When we can play in the bath and have him coming out smelling like a baby again, not a gym sock. 

When we can put on cute hats that match his outfit.

The times when we can really see what our baby boy looks like...sans helmet.

Wild thing...

You make my heart sing

You make everything grooooovy

Wild thing, I think I love you.

Follow up #1....

We had our first follow up and adjustment yesterday.

John and I had started to notice a difference in Kieran's head shape. He had more definition between his neck and head. He was more round looking down from the top of his head.

Our pediatrician told us it was too early to notice any changes.  And once again, we felt like we were imagining things or going crazy.

Well guess what Mr. Pediatrician? You're imagining things, not us. That's right. Our orthotist confirmed it. Kieran's flat is being fixed!

We got the photo of his original head shape and a photo of his head yesterday. He's gone from being a triangle to almost a circle. Check it out! (The photos are looking down at his head circumference from above...they don't show the actual flatness of the back of his head, just the general shape of his head.)

5 Month Flat

7 Month Flat

Check out the bulge on the right side of the 5 month photo...it's almost gone in the 7 month one! So awesome!

Okay, so it may not be super noticeable to anyone else, but it's certainly a huge difference in our eyes!

Oh and I have to clarify something I said earlier. I was partially wrong (because a woman is never completely wrong, right? hah!) The helmet is "active in the sense that we have to adjust it" but it's not really considered an active device....from what I understand. But once again, I could be partially wrong.

Stick it to me...

I have an obsession.  Decorating Kieran's helmet.

I've been switching up his designs regularly and having fun with it.   It's given me something to do and has made the staring so much easier to tolerate.  I just tell myself they're trying to read the stickers.

You've seen the bugs, but I'll refresh your memory.

After that it was baseball.  Kieran was our own little bat boy.

Up next was my Xtreme little dude...

In honour of the playoffs, we had to do a hockey helmet.  The stickers were ugly though, so they didn't last very long.  Besides, hockey just plain sucks when Toronto's not playing....or maybe I have that backwards...Toronto just plain sucks when they play? I don't know.  Either way the stickers came off pretty fast.

And since we were on a sports kick, we had to follow up with football, naturally.

I'm switching it up again tonight, so stay tuned for what's coming next!  Also, I have some awesome news after our first follow up appointment...so keep your eyes peeled for that too!

The flat and the fix...

I don't think I've ever shown you what Kieran's head looked like pre-helmet therapy.  I've talked about his flat, but I don't think I've shown it to you.

Ready for it?

That's the picture I took of it on the way home from our first consult at Sick Kid's.   Near the top of the back of his head he was so flat that it almost looked indented.

I also haven't told you how the helmet works.  Things in Canada seem to be a lot different than in the U.S.  All these American babes have super cool looking DOC Bands.  Here we have hockey helmets.

The DOC Bands are made to put pressure on different parts of the kiddo's head to force the flat spot to round out.  It's what's called an "active device".  It sounds painful, but apparently it's not.

We have what's called a "passive device".  They're designed so that as your little one's head grows it forms itself to the shape of the helmet.

There seem to be pros and cons with each one.  I had my heart set on a DOC Band because they look less bulky and ugly, but it wasn't an option for us.  Now I'm kind of glad we got the kind of helmet that we have.  It takes way less adjustments (less drives into the big, scary city), it only has to be worn for 18 hours a day instead of 23 (which has been awesome in the heat) and you only need one helmet.  I've heard of some kids going into their 3rd DOC Band and I don't even want to think about the expense of that!  On the other hand, you can start to see changes much faster with the DOC Band than with our hockey helmet.

Either way though, I'm so so happy with the decision we made.  I don't have one single ounce of regret and I know Kieran will be happy that we did this for him.

Sweat and stickers...

I bet you're wondering where we've been, right? Okay maybe not, but a girl can dream (and I'm going to tell you anyway).

Things have been so hectic around here.  Playdates, doctor's appointments, sticker shopping, getting ready for Kieran's upcoming baptism....it's been nuts!

We're currently in week 3 of the helmet therapy.  Kieran is such a little champ.  He wears the helmet almost all day every day.  We've been in the middle of a heat wave for the past week or so and it's been stinkin' hot, so he gets a break from the head gear in the afternoon at the height of the heat, but other than that and bath time it's on. 

I've been decorating his helmet every week with new stickers and his helmet looks great.  Here's our little slugger in action..

I'm having a hard time getting used to the smell of his head and hair.  I wash him every day and clean the helmet twice daily and it still doesn't help the stink.  He doesn't smell like a baby anymore, he smells like a men's locker room.  I guess it's nature's way of getting me ready for his teenage years.

I'm also having a hard time adjusting to not being able to rub his head to help him get to sleep.  Belly and back rubs just don't work as well.

On a good note though, I barely notice the stares now.  Only if they stop right in front of us do I pay any mind.

So that's life right now in a nutshell.  I'm so happy with the way things have been going and how well Kieran has adjusted to his new accessory.