Pushing Up!

Ben had a HUGE day today!  First, this morning while we were playing he decided that he was ready to push himself up on his knees!  Such a big boy!  He only goes backwards right now but I know it is only a matter of time before he is crawling all over the place!  After breakfast we headed to The Children's Museum of Houston.  Ben had a blast!  The 2nd floor is a tot space and Ben loved playing and exploring with everything.  I think it might be time to take him to The Little Gym very soon.  After the Children's Museum we stopped at Target.  When I was strapping Ben into his car seat he was just talking and laughing away when I noticed a TOOTH poking through on the bottom!  On Sunday Matt and I thought he may be working on a tooth because he was literaly up every 45 minutes Sunday night. 



What a FUN day my little guy and I had today!

 

Stay tuned for pictures from the Children's Museum and his first tooth!  I have to sort through the 88 photos I took today first! =)

Happy Thursday!

Make it a great one!

Calling Dada!

Ben do you want to call Dada?

Okay, Mama.  Wait, Mama, just hand me the phone and I'll call Dada.

I'll call you back Dada, this phone is pretty tasty!

Oh Benjamin, I don't think Dada minds if you want to eat the phone everytime we call him instead of talking. 

 

And I can't even stand the cuteness of that belly!  

Labor Day Weekend!

Happy Labor Day!  I hope everyone is enjoying their day off as much as we are!  Ben spent the weekend at GiGi and Poppy's while Matt and I went to Dallas to the LSU game.  Matt and I had a great time and I know that Ben had a great time as well at GiGi and Poppy's! Thanks again GiGi and Poppy for babysitting!  =)

It was a great weekend for everyone! 

 

Also, I know everyone is curious about Ben's helmet because that post has had the most visitors since I started this blog so here is a little more information about it!  Ben wears his helmet for 23 hours a day.  We take it off for an hour when he takes his bath and so that we can clean the helmet.  We also take that time to stretch Ben's neck muscle.  The pictures that you see when Ben has his helmet off are either before or after his bath or while we are stretching him.  We can take it off for pictures but it is recommended that it is not off for more than 10 minutes at a time beyond the 1 hour because Ben's head is growing so rapidly at this point.  A baby's head grows the most in the first year, especially from months 6-10, hence the timing of the helmet.  I thought I would get more questions about his helmet out in public but actually almost every day someone comes up to me and tells me that they know someone who has worn it, or there grandson has worn it, or their baby, etc.  Congenital torticollis is more common in boys as boys tend to be bigger babies and the positioning in utero is what causes the torticollis.  If you have any questions, please feel free to comment and ask!  Hope everyone enjoys their day off!

My Little Super Hero!

If you don't know already, Ben got fitted with some super cool duds last week- a helmet!  Ben was born with congenital muscular torticollis- scary name for not a scary thing, that developed in utero due to some cramped quarters inside.  Basically, Ben was a little large for my uterus and so if you ever saw any of his ultrasound pictures you probably noticed that he always had his head tilted to one side.  That is the torticollis.  Torticollis is a tightened SCM muscle (the muscle in the side of your neck)  and torticollis is actually the fancy name for a stiff neck when you sleep wrong.  It is the same thing, except Ben doesn't know how to stretch it out on his own, so Matt and I stretch it out for him.  His torticollis has improved greatly and you can see this because he no longer tilts his head to the side anymore.  However, because of the tightened neck muscle Ben developed a preference for sleeping on his right side.  This developed a flat spot on the side of his head so after months of repositioning, Ben's doctors and Matt and I decided that the helmet would be the best thing.  I mean, life is tough enough, noone wants to go through it with a flat spot on their head.  So now, my precious little punkin has a super cool new helmet to wear for the next 3 months.  We are a week and a half into the therapy, but hey, who's counting?!  Mr. Jim (Ben's orthotist) assured me that the babies don't even mind the helmet but I was a little skeptical.  I have to say though, Ben REALLY doesn't seem to mind.  His disposition and attitude has not changed one bit.  He is still the happiest baby with the happiest disposition.  Anyway, here are a few pictures of my sweet boy who looks absolutely adorable in his new helmet!

GiGi took Ben to see Mr. Jim on Tuesday (thank you so so so much again GiGi, Ben had a blast and you don't know how much we appreciate it!) and he said that the helmet is already working!  I am keeping my fingers crossed that he is in it for less than 3 months. 

Clean Baby

I love snuggling my little baby burrito right after his bath.  It is one of my favorite moments. 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben loves his bath time, too.  We are just about to switch him over to a big boy tub.  The bath tub that he has now is an infant to toddler tub but I think he would enjoy a roomier tub so I think I am going to try this inflatable bath tub .  I seriously need to find a way to stop time because he is becoming such a big boy way too fast!

Blue Eyed Boy

My little blue eyed sweet boy. 

Ben is having a MUCH better week at school.  His teachers say that he hardly cries (thank goodness because that was killing me) and that he is napping on his own and eating like a champ.  I knew he just needed some time to adjust.  It definitely makes my days at work a whole lot easier.