Its Official!

We are helmet free! 

Saturday with Poppy

This is how I found Ben Saturday morning...

This boy is so silly- he definitely gets that from Matt!

 

Saturday afternoon we spent the day with Poppy.  We took care of some last minute errands to get ready for Ben's Baptism which included tasting cakes at Treat- I didn't mind one bit and we finally decided on a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting.  We also enjoyed a nice lunch at Mia Bella and did a little shopping after.  Definitely a great Saturday!

 



Last Week

Just a couple of things from last weekend that I didn't mention yet.  On Wednesday Ben came with me to Family Literacy Night at my school.  It is a big event we put on every year to promote literacy in our community.  We also read a school wide book this semester, Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado and Torrey Maldonado came to our literacy night to sign books.  Ben was pretty tired at first as he only had a 45 minute nap that morning so he took a while to warm up to everyone.



 Once he woke up and warmed up to everyone he was all smiles the rest of the night.

Here is Ben trying out the car seats at Babies R Us.  We went with this one and he has been loving riding in the car! 

 

Thursday of last week Ben and I made Halloween treats for his teachers at school.  Ben loves riding in the grocery carts at the store!

 

No tricks, just treats for Ben's teachers! =)

And just a few more cute bath tub pictures!  I think these two are framers!  

High Chair Fun

Last weekend we went out to lunch on Saturday and then out for breakfast on Sunday morning.  Ben was so funny and just wanted to turn around in the high chair and look at everyone else in the restaurants.  Such an inquisitive baby!

Saturday Morning Snuggles

I mean, who wouldn't want to snuggle with this cutie and watch Sprout on Saturday morning?!

NOLA

I don't think I mentioned to you guys that GiGi and Poppy also came to Louisiana for the weekend!

We had so much stuff to pack for the weekend that I actually forgot my camera so I was relying on my iPhone camera the whole weekend, hence the short amount of pictures.  Anyway, GiGi and Poppy left Sunday morning and Matt and I left Ben with Nana and Pops and headed to New Orleans.  I just love New Orleans.  The food.  The music.  The cultural.  I just love the way it feels.  It was a fun, relaxing trip centered around eating and drinking our way through the streets of NOLA. 

 

We had so many great recommendations on places to eat that we shared lots of dishes at many different restaurants so that we could try them all.  A favorite of mine?  The macarons at Sucre. 

 

We also ate at Cafe du Monde, Port of Call - delicious hamburgers!, Cochon, and a handful of other places but those are my recommendations if you are ever in NOLA.  Of course, what would a trip the the Quarter be without a few hand grenades and fruity drinks at Tropical Isle?! 

 

That rounds out our 36 hours in NOLA and now you have my recommendations if you ever find yourself there. 

 

Do you know what today is?!  It is Ben's 9 month birthday!!!  I can't even believe our sweet baby boy is 9 months old.   Saturday you can expect lots of 9 month pictures and all the latest on what our sweet punkin' is doing these days.  In other exciting news Ben had a follow up for his helmet on Wednesday and he is officially within normal range of head shape symetry and Dr. Luerrsen gave us the go ahead to take it off but we are going to continue for 6 more weeks just to make it perfectly round.  Really, because Ben doesn't mind and 6 more weeks will make it extra perfect.  Hope everyone has a great Friday!







Louisiana!

We spent the weekend in Lafayette and had such a great time catching up with friends and family.  We left Friday around 5:30 which worked out perfectly because Ben's usual bed time is at 6:30 so he slept the entire trip. 

Ben loved all of the attention and most of all loved spending time with his Nana and Pops! 

 
































Sunday before we left for New Orleans we stopped by Jon and Sarah's house and got to meet their sweet baby girl Harper. 



Ben loved getting to meet Jon, Sarah, and Harper and we are so glad we got to meet precious little Harper.  

 

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.