Mom's Report from Charleston

Hi everyone. Here I am in Charleston for work meetings. It feels very weird being away from Tim & Eli. I left yesterday morning around 7:30am and will get home late tomorrow afternoon - that's two whole nights away!! I thought I'd catch up on sleep but they had us booked last night until 10:30pm. Today we started with a 6:30am breakfast and I'm supposed to be on a team building excursion right now. The one I signed up for is Shopping in Downtown Charleston - oh yeah, we're staying on Isle of Palms so you have to take a shuttle over. It was either that or golf or fishing - neither really my style. But what I've really done is escape to get some work done in my room (and say hello to everyone here) before our dinner and speaker tonight. Busy busy!!

Tim's mom came up yesterday to help him out and be an extra hand with Eli. We've had to re-figure Eli out with the helmet so the guessing game has been tough. I felt really bad about leaving the boys UNTIL Tim called me at 6am this morning to tell me that Eli was still sleeping and had slept through the night. (I think Tim got more sleep than I did last night!!) When I talked to Tim last night, they had had a good evening and Eli went to bed fairly well. Hmmmmm.....why won't Eli do that when I'm home? Is it me? I'm really glad that Eli is doing well for Tim and his mom. I'm sending my happy thoughts and love to them for another great night.

And Millie Mom, thanks for taking care of the boys. I KNOW Tim could do it by himself but it's so much easier having someone there if you need them.

Helmet update

Today Eli had his 1st follow up appointment at UNC to check his helmet. He slept in it Saturday and Sunday nights and doesn't really seem to mind it now. I think he feels weird with it off. Over the past 3 weeks, his head has grown by 1/8". With just a week of the helmet on, that growth is in the area we needed it. They did pictures and measurements this morning and compared them to 3 weeks ago when his mold was made. They said his progress was great and that he just needed to keep growing. I have finally realized that the helmet does not actually change his head as it is right now by forcing it to move, it guides his growth to round it out. We go back in two weeks to do more measurements and check. As his head grows, they will continue to mold the helmet - even made a few tweaks today. His sleeping hasn't been that great the past week. We're not sure if it's helmet related or he wasn't feeling well. We hope that tonight after a regular day, it will be better. Wish us luck!

Weekend getaway

This past weekend, we escaped to the mountains of NC staying in a great cabin just east of Asheville. It was Eli's first mountain trip! We left Friday morning and got there mid afternoon. Eli & I hung out while Tim and our friend Mike went on a bike ride. Friday night dinner, Eli did great at LoneStar. We were out past his bedtime but he was a trooper. Had a really nice lady talk to me and tell me that her son wore a helmet for a year and that it worked well for her (they waited until he was almost a year old to start - glad we started earlier!). Saturday, Eli & I went to the mall to meet my parents while Tim & Mike went on another bike ride. Late that afternoon we met Mike's parents for dinner. It was so great to see them; it had been a while. Saturday were some more firsts for Eli. His first real tub bath and his first full night in the helmet. Whew, it was a rough one. Eli was up quite a bit and not too happy but we think it had more to do with temperature than the helmet. It's harder for us dressing him now because the helmet makes him warmer than normal so we think we underdressed him that night and he was cold. Sunday we did family breakfast and Eli got his own pancake. He ate almost the whole thing! Then it was a quick nap while we packed the car and then we went to the Folk Art Center and Mast General Store. It was so nice to just get away and hang out. Tim & I definitely needed a break from home chores and regular life plus it was nice to take Eli for the first time. Enjoy our pictures.

Sophie's Hideaway - our cabin

Hanging in the grass

Rolling around the mall with Grandpa - never thought I'd see the day!!

Grandma and Grandpa

Rocking on the porch with Daddy

First real tub bath

Sleeping in my helmet Saturday night

Family walk - Blue Ridge Parkway over us

Mom and her boy at the Folk Art Center

Hanging with Daddy

2 on, 1 off, rinse, repeat

Oops, wrong thing there! Got confused with bath time.

Today was our 2 hours on, 1 hour off day for Eli's helmet. Our day started off a little rough when Eli decided waking time was 4:30am. He was wide awake and would not go back to sleep for either Tim or I. He did pretty well at home with the helmet on and the day seemed to be going well until I got a call from his school around 2:30pm that he was running a low grade fever and just not having a good day. So I picked him up around 3:30pm and I swear, the boy just wanted to come home! He was in pretty good spirits and we played. He even took about an hour nap in his helmet in my arms. Helmet came off for the night about an hour ago and Tim is putting him to bed. We hope he'll sleep much better tonight and not get our day going quite so early.

Tomorrow.....4 hours on, 1 hour off.
(I know this is everything and more you all wanted to know about helmets!!)

1 on, 1 off, repeat til bed

Today was Eli's first day in the helmet and the schedule was one hour on his head, one hour off. This was repeated all day and he didn't have to wear it during naps or bed. The teachers at his school were so helpful and more than willing to help us with it. I did a little tally and I think he wore it about 6-1/2 hours today. At school they said he would be a little mad for the first 15 minutes but he would get over it and be his happy self. He did well tonight and actually wore it for about an hour and a half after I got home.

Tomorrow - 2 hours on, 1 hour off.

Now making his fashion debut.....

Eli with his designer helmet!!! You probably can't really tell from the pictures but we got a sailboat pattern. It was toned down a bit more than some of the patterns and we thought it fit with his beachy room and Tim's beach roots. Today wasn't too bad. The orthotist that we are working with at UNC is so sweet and good with Eli. She brought his helmet in and fit it on him, made some marks and took it back to cut it to where he needed it - they arrive a little oversized in terms of coverage. She had to do that a few times and Eli was a trooper during the whole thing. That was amazing since he had been awake since 11:30am (he stayed awake until just a few minutes ago crashing in his crib; we think he's out for the night). So she got the fit right and went over our instructions. The break-in period for him will be five days. Day 1: 1 hour on, 1 hour off throughout the day - not on during naps or bed. Then the wearing period gradually gets longer to where he wears it 23 hours a day by Day 5. The helmet is very light and we think (HOPE!!) he will adapt quickly. We also got the cleaning / maintenance instructions and off we went. We put it on him tonight for about 40 minutes before he just got so darn fussy. I think he got pretty hot with the helmet on as his little head was sweaty - thus the reason for the break in period. Wish us luck this week!

He likes it...

He likes it not.....

He likes it......MAYBE!

Eli's Helmet Eve

Today was our last full day of no-helmet. We go to UNC tomorrow to finish the fitting for Eli's helmet and he'll start his 4 month journey to a more rounded head. We had a decent weekend - nothing too exciting. Took Eli to the bike shop and New Balance store yesterday - Tim & I both got new shoes. Last night I volunteered for the Umstead 100 - this was my 8th year in a row. I ran the 50-mile version one year and then decided that volunteering was much more fun! Tim & Eli had some quality time while I was out there. Today we just puttered around the house. Eli's tummy hasn't seemed right. He isn't eating as much as usual and is sleeping very well. I worry that he's got a bug. Today he drank about half as much formula as normal and didn't seem to eat as much food either. I think he's losing interest in the bottle which means we'd better get the sippy cup training down pat!! We also went on a family walk (with a few minor jogging moments) to try out our new shoes.

Tonight when I was putting Eli to bed, I had a moment thinking about this helmet journey. I was snuggled with him and didn't want to put him to bed. I love being able to hug him and kiss his little head - the helmet will make that more difficult. We'll also have to be very careful with the head butts!! I know in my heart that it's what we need to do but I'm a little sad. He'll have to wear the helmet 23 hours a day so you can best bet that I'll be getting my snuggles and head kisses in during that one no-helmet hour. We'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow evening. Wish us luck!

School pictures

Eli's school had pictures made the middle of March. Even though we had some made just before that, I couldn't resist. He looks like such a big boy!!

Disclaimer: Once again, I'm breaking rules and scanning in professional photography - don't try this at home. I don't feel so bad because I AM buying some of the pictures.

What does cute look like?

These are pretty darn cute to me!

You give me fever

Got the call yesterday afternoon from Eli's school that he had a fever. It was over 100 so we had to pick him up. He's out today as well because the kids have to be fever-free for 24 hours before they can come back. Tim stayed home yesterday afternoon with him and Eli is with our neighbor Amy this morning until I can get home. We hate to see him with a fever. I think right now it's due to his 2nd top tooth. His poor little gum is swollen and that tooth is giving him a fit. In the midst of it all, Eli continues to be super happy boy and smile away. How lucky we are. =)