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.

Tooth and other new things

I forgot to mention that Ryan has a tooth now. Just one little tooth on the bottom. He does some funny little lip things now as he checks it out. We discovered that he's mastered turning from back to tummy when we went to get him up in the morning and he was sleeping on his tummy. Now I feel like I have to check on him more because one time his face was smashed into the mattress.

Ryan is working hard on becoming mobile. He scoots sometimes. He gets up on his knees sometimes. He leans over and puts his hands on the ground when he's sitting sometimes. Eventually, he'll coordinate everything and take off crawling. All good things in all good time. The house isn't anywhere near baby proofed yet.

I got him to eat a whole jar of peas by dipping the spoonful of peas into pears. And wonder of all wonders, he likes green beans! (Is that my kid?)

Again, No Helmet Yet

We went in for another head scan. Ryan's asymmetry was down again but just by .5mm. Since we had seen visible improvement, I think we were under the impression the numbers would be better. Because of that, we weren't prepared to make the decision to band (get the helmet) that day. We are again waiting another month and seeing if more progress is made. He will be 8 months at the time, still within the range to see good progress with the band if we start at that time.

This has been such a hard decision. I know in some ways we are in denial that Ryan needs the STARband. I just looked at his head all weekend knowing that he definitely needs the helmet. I can honestly say I cried and I know there will be more tears in the future.

More Solid Foods

So far, Ryan has tried rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes, peas and prunes. The prunes were introduced on purpose after Mike described his latest bowel movement as "an acorn." Ryan loves his cereal; likes sweet potatoes and prunes; gags on peas and most recently goes on strike for banana.

We finally got approved to continue physical therapy. His first appointment in a month is tomorrow. He is doing so much more since the last time he went. He rolls over, spins on his tummy and sits without much assistance.