Wednesday, March 25, 2009

8 months old!









Harrison is 8 months old today, I can't believe it! It's gone by so fast, but I've loved every minute of it, and I so look forward to the future with him. This week has been a hard one for me, since Harrison is now Army crawling, I've stopped taking him to work with me, and Kenney has been watching him in the morning while I go to work, then I'm home at noon. I miss him so much during the morning, and I've cried on the way to work for the past 3 days. All the customer's have missed him too, which is nice. He's just such a good little guy and I don't want to miss anything with him, but Kenney is having a blast with him. Plus, he's been sleeping a lot so it's been nice for Kenney so far, because he can get some sleep too!

Harrison is adjusting to his helmet great! He hasn't had any problems with it at all, and I can see a little bit of a difference already! The really tough part is taking him in public because people always look at me like "Oh, that poor kid" kind of thing, and I just want to wear a shirt that says "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY SON, HE'S JUST GOT A FLAT HEAD, QUIT STARING". I know I'll get over it, but it's just tough sometimes, I don't want anybody judging him or me because of this silly helmet.

Other than that, everything is going great! Here are some things that Harrison is doing now :



  • Army crawling to get to things

  • He loves hands, he's always reaching for peoples and staring at his own, it's so cute.

  • He loves to suck on his toes

  • Sitting up really well!

  • Loves puffs! His favorite is bananas :)

  • Eating baby food once or twice a day, so far is favorite is carrots and the "summer vegetable dinner"..he's a vegetarian until he's 1 :)

  • Loves bath time, he's kicking his legs the whole time in there now.

  • Grabs at everything!

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment :) Have a good one!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Helmet Head :)









We got Harrison's helmet yesterday, and he's adjusting just great! It looks like a football helmet, so I'm in the process of decorating it like a Colts helmet, plus adding in some paw prints (of course!), so I'll post pictures as soon as I'm done :) But he's doing just great in it. He wore it for 3 hours yesterday, and 6 hours today, and I have to increase each day by 3 hours until he's up to 23 hours a day. During the hour "off" he gets his bath, and I have to wash it because those helmets can get pretty stinky. The worse part about the whole thing is that it's really really hard to get off and on, and since Kenney works nights, I'm on my own for it. I had to go back to the orthotics doctor today just to make sure that I'm taking it off and putting it on correctly because to take it off, it feels like your ripping his head off! But he's so laid back, he doesn't seem to mind and the doctor said that I'm doing everything right. It's just that for this to work, the helmet as to put pressure on the sides of his head in order to "pop out" the back of his head. Let's hope this works!
Harrison is doing great though, he's so close to crawling, it's crazy. He does a really big push up, and gets his legs under him, but then he doesn't know what to do next. I've tried tempting him with his puffs (did I mention he eats puffs now?), and he was really trying, but no dice. Maybe I should try the iphone, he loves that thing! We've been hiking with him a few times and he seems to like the backpack that Kenney got him, but he likes it better when he's facing you, not behind you, so we are trying to get him used to it.
As for me? I'm doing good! I'm trying to stay stress free about work, and life in general. Anyone that knows me, knows that I worry constantly, so I'm trying to stop that. Work is going good, still not sure what I'm going to do after Harrison starts crawling, Kenney said that he could watch him in the morning, and then I could work, but I just don't think that's fair to Kenney because he will hardly get any sleep, plus I really don't want to miss anything with Harrison, he's growing so fast!
That's about it though, we are all doing great and I hope that you all are too! Have a great rest of the week!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Just got back...

Well, we just got back from the neurologist office, and we got some good news. Harrison's flat head is purely cosmetic! Thank God! We figured that there wasn't anything wrong with him developmentally because he's doing so good, he's grabbing at everything, almost crawling, etc. So, the doctor was great and said that he sees these cases all the time, because of SIDS everyone is putting their babies on their back, as they should, and it's just that some babies get a flat head, and some have worse than others. So, Harrison is going to have to wear a helmet for a few months, which I see as a blessing because seeing all of these kid's pictures, it could be so much worse, so I am very happy. Unfortunately, the helmet is $1600.00, which we are not sure if the insurance is going to pay for it, but either way, it will be worth it. So I just wanted to give an update, that everything is cool. And, when we get the helmet, we are going to decorate it, so he looks cool :) I figure all you can do is when life gives you lemons, make lemonade :)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Trying to stay stress free.

Okay, so I'm having a really rough time right now so I'm just going to vent. It feels as if I have just about everything on my shoulders right now, Harrison, work, Kenney, normal day to day stuff, money, you name it. I was back to work 2 weeks after Harrison was born, and it's just been go go go ever since. I went back to work so early because I didn't really have anything to do at home, Harrison was just sleeping all day, and I figured that it would help me get a routine going. I only worked for 3 hours a day for the first 5 weeks or so, then went up to 6 1/2 hours a day, to now, working until I get everything done. There is drama going on at work right now and I never feel as if I have enough time to get everything done that I need to get done. I'm constantly being pulled away because of Harrison, not that I'm complaining at all, it's just hard to get everything done that I'd like. On the other side of it, I feel as if I'm not actually working at all. I am out greeting customers every morning from 6:3o-9:30, then from the rest of the time, I'm in the office, doing bookwork, writing the newsletter, answering emails, etc., while everyone else is out with the dogs and is physically working. I feel like crap about that most of the time because everyone is working their ass off, and all I can do is just sit in the office. I'm trying to get over it, and my boss (God bless her) keeps telling me that what I am doing is important, but it's still hard to come to terms with. On top of that, Harrison is getting a lot more mobile, (he's almost crawling!) and I'm afraid of what is going to happen after he starts crawling. 1., I do NOT want him to crawl around on that floor, eww, and 2. he's not going to be happy being stuck in a pack and play for 6 1/2 hours at a time, frankly, I'm suprised he's not going crazy now. I LOVE my job, I mean, every morning, I'm so excited to get to come to a job that I love, and I'm so afraid that I'm going to have to soon give it up. Which I would for Harrison, I'd do anything for him, but it's still going to break my heart when it comes to that point. Plus, I don't want to let anyone down. My boss is just awesome, and if something happened where I'd have to quit, she'd have to pick up the slack and I don't want her to have to do that. It's just hard, but I'm sure everything will work out as it should.
Today, was especially a hard day for me. We went to the doctor for Harrison's check up, and the doctor looked at his head and said that he needs to go to a neurologist. He has had a flat back to his head for a few months now, and the doctor before said that it was just from being on his back all the time and not to worry about it. Well, then she looks at it today and says that it looks not just flat, but lopsided and she'd make an appointment asap. I was freaking out. She was telling me about sutures and how they can get fused together, and blah blah, but all I was thinking was "What if there is something wrong with Harrison". Every developmental question they have ever asked me, the answer has always been yes, and this appt was no different. Yes, he's almost crawling, Yes he can stick his feet in his mouth, Yes he is grabbing at everything, etc., so how could he have something wrong with his brain? Luckily, I work with a lot of doctors, and my favorite pediatrician brings her dogs everyday and is probably the most awesome person ever. I called her, crying, asking her what this all meant and she didn't hesistate to call me back and tell me that everything was going to be okay. She is sure that Harrison doesn't have what the doctor was talking about...cranios...something, that it's probably just positional phy..something because he is on his back when he sleeps and he's in his car seat a lot (he's in it for 3 hours every morning while we are at work). She told me not to freak out, and told me a lot about the neurologist that we are going to see, and exactly what's going to happen. I'm still freaking out a little because of course I am worried about Harrison, but he's such a happy kid, always smiling, and is acheiving all of his milestones on track, so I'm not worried about his development and neither is the peditrician. It's just a scary thing when a doctor says that you have to go see a specialist. Thank God for the wonderful network of friends I have. If it wasn't for this doctor, I'd probably be in the fetal position in a corner somewhere freaking out even more. I'll keep everyone posted on what's going on, and when we have our appointment, but since this pediatrician works for Riley and has seen lots of different cases, I'm feeling assured that Harrison just has "flat head syndrome". Sorry this is such a long post, I just had a lot to get off my chest. Whew. Off to bed.