the helmet journey begins...

Yesterday afternoon I took Isaac to his first appointment with the orthotist. Thankfully my mom went along because what I thought was just going to be a consultation turned into a casting of his head for the helmet. It's a good thing though that everything was done in one appointment because we drive almost an hour to get to the office. I have to tell you, I was extremely nervous and anxious about the whole helmet thing. I was kind of thinking the worst and was just plain bummed that Isaac wasn't going to get a break from people poking his head for a while. I felt like I needed a break too from all of this and for much of this week it felt like the helmet was going to push me over the edge. It's not even that I care about the helmet, or the look of it, I'm just tired of this and Isaac must be tired of it too in some seven month old way.

Anyway, we decided to go with the helmet guy that Dr. Gosain recommended which means more driving and also meant having the actual casting of his head done instead of the digital scan that I'd heard of. So I went into this seriously disappointed that he was going to have the casting done. I didn't want to put him through one more procedure. BUT, the good new is, it went surprisingly well and I think the helmet's fit will be much better with the method and precision that this guy uses.

As with any other helmet therapy, he will wear the helmet twenty-three hours a day with one hour for washing his head and the helmet. Hopefully by his first birthday we'll be done using the helmet.

The really great thing about yesterday, was that the orthotist said, "I'm not trying to flatter you or anything, but this is one of the best surgical results I've ever seen." WOW!!!! We know Dr. Gosain did an amazing job, but it's always good to hear that from someone else--especially when you've had such a hard time getting used to the new apprearance of your baby.

Here are pictures of the casting process...

Ready to get messy!

Taping and marking ears and forehead.

Mom and I switched places so that Isaac could see me.

My knight in shining nylon stocking!

I don't really like this part but I'm doing great!

All done!

I still have some blue marks on my head but they'll come out in a couple days.

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I thought I would copy Sarah's annual Christmas picture of her girls in matching pajamas. So we went to the store and I found coordinating pjs (with Isabella's approval of course). The intent was to save the pajamas and take the picture a little closer to Christmas but Isabella insisted that both she and Isaac needed to wear them right after we got home. And because I'm all about picking my battles and we didn't have anything else to do, here are some attempted pictures of Isabella and Isaac...

What's going on here...?

Walter asked if I made Isabella pose in these next pictures...the answer is No, I just keep taking pictures while she acting silly...



Excuse me, I have a question, when will this be over?

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Hanging out with Isaac while Isabella took a nap...

Check out these super cute boots from Gymboree...

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Where's Waldo with Papa...

Leave it to Isabella to wear a tank top in November.

Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for!