The One With Too Many Pictures

Spoiler Alert: There are a LOT of photos in this post. I will recall the day's events via captions (with a few interspersed explanations :)).

HELMET DAY!

In the waiting room with Sophie le Girafe

On Friday we drove to Valley Orthocare in Surrey to get Judah's helmet. We were seen by Doug, who spent the majority of the appointment putting the helmet on Judah, listening to him scream while measurements were taken, removing the helmet, cutting, snipping, trimming, shaving the helmet, putting the helmet on Judah, listening to him scream while measurements were taken, removing the helmet, cutting, snipping, trimming... etc. For TWO HOURS! That's a LONG appointment for a 6 month old (and his mama!). During the parts where Doug was making adjustments in the Starband, Judah and I ate and read.

Pureed zucchini! We were given a Baby Bullet (the baby food making version of the Magic Bullet) and it's THE BEST! I mean, the blender itself is pretty cool and really it's just a green version of the original MB, but THE CONTAINERS are so neat! And the recipe booklet! And the freezer tray! I particularly love that you can adjust the dial on each mini container to display the date which the food was made. That's cute organization, friends! And doesn't that little face make you so happy? Judah recognizes these containers already and goes bananas when I pull them out of the fridge :).

This picture is the result of me attempting to take a picture during lunch time.
"Priorities, Mum!"

There were lots of "Wear and Care" instructions for me to read

Judah's reading was more fun than mine... he was enthralled with this National Geographic! Note how he gently "pets" the bear on the page, and then pets Moose. He's so cute!

He learned all about the Calgary Stampeded

"Wait..."

"...This seems interesting."

His "teethy" cheek - it regularly gets rosy and then goes away

This Mickey Mouse toy also lives in the occupational therapy department at BC Children's Hospital. When you squeeze Micky's hand the phalanges on his head whir and spin and light up in an obnoxious but very distracting way - it's the perfect thing to keep a baby's attention on you!  

The Micky toy only worked a bit on Judah. He was more interested in putting the phalanges in his mouth.
After this point there was a lot of crying...

At the very end of the appointment! We're done, Little Man! He had cried for a looong time.  Now it was time to go home and try wearing the helmet. After the meltdowns that ensued every time Doug placed the helmet on Hawk's head I was convinced this was going to be very, very difficult.

I have some experience training horses.
I have very little experience training babies.

If I were to introduce a horse to a new contraption that he had previously had a negative experience with, I would let the horse sniff and play with the item for a bit.

It couldn't hurt to try it the same way with Hawk, right?

"Hmm..

"But can I eat it?!"

The playing went super well! At the appointment he was getting so worked up that when Doug would come back into the room after making a size adjustment, Judah would scream.
After he and the helmet "played" I figured it was time to try it on.

And...

... HE DID AWESOME! He didn't care at all!

I put him on his tummy to take a picture, but he was too fast for me and rolled right over!

Finishing up his roll! Not even an issue! 

So we did more playing! Tummy time, sitting, jumping... it was all a breeze! And he didn't once seem perturbed about his new Starband. Praise God! :)

For the first 5 days we follow an on-off rotation with the helmet to check for rashes, rubs and general irritation. So far his head is looking fine and his demeanour is just as jolly as ever!

David thinks Judah now looks like Mega Man!

Thank you for your prayers! The transition has so far been 200% better than we could have hoped for! Our God is so so so good :). 

Here's what our little Hawk has been up to since getting his helmet...

This is Sophie! Judah "rode" her in utero for months while I worked at the ranch. She's super sweet and totally safe :).

My little cowboy!

Helping select the best produce

What an adorable little trooper!