7 Months Old & Helmet Update

Here are some snapshots of Caleb wearing his helmet.  Things are going really well so far!  We had our one week check-up on Monday and the doctor said that there has been some good progress.  He still is tolerating the helmet pretty well and also is sleeping with it pretty well.  However, his head gets really sweaty, so Patrick and I have decided that if there's anytime of year that's a good time for him to wear a helmet it's got to be January/February/March in Minnesota.  :)

Here is Caleb's 7 month old photo.  We did one in the helmet and then wanted to do another photo without the helmet.  As it tends to be with children, Caleb had other ideas and we couldn't force him to sit for another picture.  He decided that he was done sitting in the chair and tried to scoot out of the chair.  He definitely is starting to get a big interest in moving more.  He's so hard to give a bottle to right now, he just wants to squirm everywhere and wants to look at every single little noise.  It's amazing how much he's changed in the past 7 months!

After the photo session, it was play time and Sierra wanted to join in...

Last, Caleb got to have a bath in the "big boy" tub this weekend.  Previously, we would just bath him in the infant tub but since he's so good at sitting up now we decided to give the big tub a try.  He loved it!  There's so much more room for him to splash around!!!  He's definitely a water-baby...he's always so happy when he's playing in the tub.  

Helmet Boy & Other Happenings

Caleb got his helmet on Friday, that will help to correct his flat spot on the back of his head.  As you may remember, he had torticollis (tight ligaments in his neck) that made it so he would only look to the right side.  After physical therapy, he now has full motion in his neck...but the flat spot that was created by him always looking to the right is still there.  So Caleb is now wearing a helmet to correct that flat spot.  We're hoping that he doesn't have to wear it longer than 3 months.

He's actually doing pretty well with the helmet.  Both Patrick and I have been surprised that he's been so tolerant of it.  We in the process of slowly acclimating him to the helmet...tonight is the first night that he's wearing it at night (so we'll see how well he sleeps).  Keeping our fingers crossed for a decent night's sleep!  Here are a few photos of Caleb in his helmet.  I think it's pretty adorable.

Also, I wanted to share Caleb's 6-month stats:

Weight:  19 lbs 11 oz (78th percentile)
Length:  28 inches (88th percentile)
Head:  18 inches (90th percentile)

Here are a few other pictures from the last couple weeks.

 We're starting to let Caleb try some finger-foods.  Here's a shot of him trying out some "puffs".  He didn't quite make it in his mouth.  :)

Last, we celebrated Patrick's birthday this weekend.  We had a great time!  I made dinner for Patrick on Saturday night, then we watched the movie Moneyball (highly recommend it) and the three of us went to brunch on Sunday morning at Granite City.  Here's a shot of Patrick's birthday cake:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!  Patrick and I were WILD on New Year's Eve...instead of going to bed at 9PM, we went to bed at 10PM.  It was a crazy night!  :)  I guess when you have a 6 month old who you're currently sleep training & who doesn't know the definition of "sleep in" you don't stay out that late.  Times have changed!  Other than that, some fun things have been happening in our household:

Caleb was six months old on Christmas Day.  He has his 6 month well-child visit on January 10th, so we won't know his length/weight until then.  I have a feeling he's doing just fine in that department.  He's very healthy and loves his milk!  Here's a picture of Caleb at 6 months old:

After the photo session, it was time for a nap.  He was a little glossy eyed as he cuddled with his blanket.

We had such a great time celebrating Christmas with Caleb.  His two favorite parts of Christmas were probably the church service (he started laughing when people were singing) and also tearing up the wrapping paper.  Here he is opening up a present from Grandma Karen & Grandpa Joe:

We've also been trying some new foods with Caleb.  There's a picture below of him trying some mashed up avocado.  As you can see, he didn't really care for it.  He started gagging, so I guess that means he didn't like it.  :)  Now he's going through a phase where he doesn't really want to eat any solid food.  I'm not sure if the avocado experience turned him off, but he won't open up his mouth when the spoon comes close.  I'm sure he'll grow out of that as soon as he realizes that all solid food won't make him gag.  

One other new thing is the sippy cup.  You're supposed to introduce it at about 6-7 months old, so a couple days ago I decided to put a little water in the sippy cup and see what Caleb thought.  He just eyed it at first and wasn't quite sure what to do, but once he realized that he could put it in his mouth he thought it was pretty fun.  I'm guessing he probably only got a few drops of water, but he'll get the hang of it soon enough.  

Another new thing in the world of Kari & Patrick is that we just got a new car!  We purchased a GMC Acadia, so now we have enough room to shuttle around Caleb, the two dogs, and some luggage (if we're traveling somewhere).  We traded in my Mazda Tribute (that I've had for 6 1/2 years).  It's always sad to say "good-bye" to a car you've had for a long time.  As we were dropping off the Tribute I reminded Patrick that it was the car that we took Caleb home from the hospital.  Memories!  I'm sure Caleb will enjoy this new car much more, since it has a DVD player for him to enjoy once he no longer has to sit in a rear-facing car seat.  The Acadia also has some fun things for Mom & Dad...a navigation system & remote start (which is great to have during a Minnesota winter).  Here are some pictures of what it looks like:

Hope all of you have a very Happy New Year!!!