Helmet Adventures - week 1

 Here are some pictures, documenting Geoffrey's helmet wearing days over the past week...

Look at him!!  This is during the one hour of "freedom." His head has already made so much improvement in this first week!

The right side of the skull, which is where a bulk of our focus for treatment is.

Sweet baby cheeks!

We introduced him to a sippy cup, since he is teething.  Although he is not drinking any of the water, he loves to chew on it.  He also tried sweet potatoes and bananas for the first time...not such a hit as the sippy cup was. :)

I left the room for just a minute, and when I came back, this is what I found.  Poor, sweet baby boy is so sleepy from his rough nights with the new helmet this week.  This just melts my heart.

Week 1, check!  Thank goodness, we finally have a week behind us.  Here we go into week 2!

Little Man's Helmet

My little man, prior to getting his new helmet.

A week ago, Geoffrey officially started wearing his new helmet.  I'm going to try to periodically post pictures on the blog to document his progress.  I've been running through a wide array of emotions over the past week, but I think I'm starting to get settled into this new routine.  Every evening, I give Geoffrey a bath, allowing his head to not only be cleansed, but also to air out the skin.  His head temperature has yet to adapt to this new contraption that is on his head 23/24 hours a day, and just recently, he started to get a heat rash. :(  As you can imagine, this is affecting his sleep, both at night and during the day, causing our solid sleeper and content little boy to become a bit more fussy and distraught.  It is challenging to watch him struggle through the moments of discomfort, knowing exactly how to fix it, but not doing it.  I know it is for the very best, and that is what keeps me pushing through this day in and day out.  One week down - we will make it!

Waiting for the doctor to return with his newly fitted helmet.

Maddie, checking out the new look.

Geoffrey, repaying the favor.

Disneyland, of course!

Our niece, Kylia, had never been to Disneyland before, so of course we had to go...(I know, pull my arm hard enough and you might get me to go).  We had a very fun, very filled day at the park.  It was the first time that we had been for most of the duration of the open park hours since Geoffrey was born, but we did it!  Success! The day was filled to the brim with riding super fun rides, meeting princesses, eating ice cream and having a magical time. Would you expect anything less?

Kylia and her prince charming, Pirate Grandpa Dale

It was a perfect day for this ride - so much so, that we rode it twice! (Nevermind that the second time was after the sun went down!)

:)

Everyone in their hats!

Yes, Maddie is that excited to be getting her picture taken with Sleeping Beauty. :)

Get ready to spin!

At least I had fun! :)

We watched the parade with some special friends from our church back home in Oregon.  I haven't seen Tara since Maddie was 2 months old!  It was really neat to be able to connect for a little bit.

Take me out to the ball game

 We went to an LA Dodger's baseball game while the Himes' crew was in town.  It was a lot of fun!  Maddie and Kylia were indifferent, but they still enjoyed eating hotdogs and the ball park, and sitting way up high in the stadium.  There isn't much to tell in a blog post about baseball games, but they sure give lots of cute photo ops! 

Playin' in the surf!

This past weekend, Grandma Marty and Grandpa Dale came down to Pasadena for a much anticipated long weekend visit.  We were given the extra special treat of having another special visitor make the trip with them - our niece, Kylia!  Maddie was very happy to have all three of them visiting, and immediately jumped in with things to say and stories to share, from the moment we picked them up at the airport. :)  That girl wastes no time!

On the afternoon/evening of their arrival, we headed straight for Santa Monica, for some California beach time.  It was about 20 degrees cooler on the coast than in Pasadena, but it was still a comfortable temperature.  So comfortable, in fact, that Kylia (age 7 1/2), did not hesitate to throw on her swimsuit and get all wet, even as the sun was setting!

Maddie adored having Kylia around, and was immediately requesting to hold her hand wherever we went.  It was very endearing and sweet to see the two cousins reunited and getting along so easily together. Here are some picture highlights from our first evening together. 

Eating dinner on the beach.

Geoffrey's first trip to the beach - he loved it. :)

Playing in the sand, with the pier off in the distance.

Grandpa Dale and his first grandson - a little wind-whipped!

Daddy and Maddie, keeping semi-dry, while Kylia embraces the swimsuit.

"I made it to sunny California!"

Holding hands can be so silly.

Truly, Maddie thought this game was hilarious!

Cousin Love!

A definite favorite day at Disneyland

It has been quite awhile since I last posted about Disneyland, so I'd say it's high time I took care of that!  Yesterday, we spent the afternoon and evening at our happy place, and I think it's safe to say that we have begun to find our new rhythm as a family of four...still some tweaking to take care of, but pretty good with two little kids!

Perfect place to spend a perfect day!  Geoffrey agrees.

Ridiculous how much I love all three of them.

Maddie and I went on the teacups for the first time together, after I had said last year that I will never have any interest ever again because my dad's spinning made me so woozy.  It was a blast!!  (Probably helped that we really didn't turn the wheel too much at all!)

"Hand's up, Mommy!!  Look at me, I'm driving!" (She really thought she was driving the teacup with her hands on the wheel in the center. Good thing she didn't know how to actually spin it!).

Priceless.

One of the best highlights of the day!  I loved this moment with my baby girl!

Geoffrey was konked out, but insisted we still have a fun time during his nap.  How sweet of him!

We took Geoffrey on the Zephyr ride at California Adventure - sort of by accident.  We thought we would be holding him on one of our laps, but that wasn't allowed.  They said he absolutely could still ride, just needed to be sitting in his own seatbelt.  You heard me. So our little man rode next to me, strapped into a flying contraption with nothing but a simple lap belt over his tiny, not well supported body.  It was really so much fun and we couldn't stop laughing throughout the ride!  I'm not sure we would have done it had we known this would be the arrangement, but we did, and he was a champ!!

Before the ride started - he was excited to be "on his own!"  He couldn't believe it, either!

Maddie and Daddy, sitting behind us.  Maddie was super tired and getting crabby, but she still "smiled" for the camera.

Are you seriously going to let me do this, Mommy?!  I can't even sit up on my own at home!!

Oooh.  This is cool!!  I like flying!

As we were flying, I tried to take a picture of us (don't look too closely, and remember we were mid flight, hence the crazyness).  Poor little man was gasping just a bit at all the air rushing at his little face.  He just stared out and sort of seemed to say, "Bring it on!" (Er, at least that's what I'm telling myself he was saying, and not, "For the love of man!! Get me off!!")

After the ride - we survived!!  I was so proud of him! :)

Perhaps the biggest news of our life right now is that Maddie has officially been potty trained!!  WOHOO!!!!!!!!  For the past 1 1/2 weeks, she has been a superstar with only a handful of accidents, that in hindsight, could have been avoided on my part.  We wanted to reward her for being such a big girl and so we surprised her with this special new Minnie Mouse backpack, as we were leaving the park.  Here she is, riding the tram, and SO excited about her new backpack.

(please excuse the odd lighting in this photo).  Our sweet girl has hardly let this back pack out of her sight in the 24 hours she has owned it.  She even had it laying on her pillow during nap time today. :)  She is so proud of it and so proud of her accomplishment.  I'd say she has a right to be!!

We had such a magical day as a family, and made many new memories.  People assume we must get tired of the same old thing, having been to Disneyland so many times.  Funny thing is, there is always something new to discover, and I think we do an excellent job and figuring that out each time we go.