Helmet Update

Ryan got his helmet (cranial band) a week ago. There was a break in schedule for the first few days of hours on and off. He's now wearing it 23 hours a day. So far, we've been blessed that he's had no complications adjusting to the band. His head is a little sweaty when we take it off but nothing too bad. There are no bright red pressure points or other issues. We feel very lucky. Ryan also doesn't seem to mind it at all. He continues to be the happy, goofy little boy that he's always been. It hasn't changed his sleep habits either. He gets about 12 hours a night. Mobility hasn't been an issue. He isn't crawling yet but is moving all over the place.

In other news: He loves to sit in front of his bin of books and pull them out and look at them. There are times that he fusses because he wants to be next to his books.

We Made a Decision

We finally made the decision that we will start helmet therapy for Ryan's head asymmetry. The aggressive repositioning had shown some improvement the first month. In the past month and a half he's basically shown no improvement. His asymmetry remains around 10 mm. He had a scan today for his helmet and it will be ready for initial fitting on the 19th. I'll be spending a lot of time between now and then kissing that fuzzy little head. After he gets his helmet, I'll only be able to cuddle his cute noggin for 1 hour a day.

This has been an agonizing decision. Here's a link to an article that helped us.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14258-2005Mar7?language=printer

Favorites for Now

Ryan's favorite things as of today:

mom and dad (given a choice between the two, probably dad)

food - He's a baby bird just holding his big mouth open waiting for the food to come.

electronic singing plastic book - time with this toy has to be rationed (it's really annoying)

baths - He's a splashing fool.

peek-a-boo - especially when mom jumps out in the doorway

screaming at the most random times

using his tongue to explore his two (yes, now two) teeth (this leads to some interesting expressions)

any toy with a mirror

Teddy Bear Parade

It's the 24th annual Teddy Bear Parade today. I've only been involved with the last 14 though. The weather is nice and of course the whole school will turn out to watch. The kids all bring their teddy bears from home to cheer on the first graders when they march.

I wish Ry could be here. Next year he'll get more out of it. He does like to be out around people.
Now that he sits so well on his own, I've been just setting him down whenever I need to. Unfortunately for him, he's a dog magnet. He's been knocked over twice and he's not a big fan of being knocked over. Thanks, Tucker and Olive. They each have scored one.