Finley's First Christmas

Merry Christmas!

On Sunday, Grandma Kathleen came to EC for Christmas shopping. Due to the frigid temps, Finley and I stayed home, Daddy and Grandma Kathleen brought us dinner.

Grandma Kathleen left behind an early present from her and Grandpa Pat…a jumperoo! Finley LOVES it; he’s so funny bouncing in it.
On Monday, Grandma brought Finley to school. The kids were excited to see “Baby Finley” and I had fun showing him off.
Our big boy eats in his highchair now!

Christmas Eve began with dinner at my parents...
...the boys wore their matching Chirstmas outfits (a theme that will continue through the holiday pictures)...
...Jewel read to the kids...
...then we traveled to Great Grandma’s for gifts and dessert.
On Christmas Day morning, Finley found his Santa Sack full! Santa brought new toys, bigger diapers, bibs and baby wash. Finley WAS a good boy - he looks thrilled doesn't he?!?!

We gave Grandma Kathleen a Christmas surprise by stopping at the diner; she was excited to see Mr. Finley!
Our Christmas Day travels continued to West Salem – it was a fun day full of TOO MUCH food, catching up, games and gifts.
Finley's Christmas lunch....pears!

Too much fun makes a baby tired!

The 26th we celebrated Christmas in EC…
Grandma did her best to help the economy…
Appropriately, the boys wore shirts written for Grandma.
The boys got LOTS of fun gifts…books, toys, clothes, and sleds!
Auntie taught her favorite nephew how to unwrap gifts!
Grandma Lynn hosted Saturday-coffee and made us all breakfast.
Take One – Grandma Lynn is looking… Take Two – Finley is looking…

Today was Gavin's 1st Birthday party, I can't believe he's 1 already! Jill and Cary hosted a taco birthday party to celebrate.
There were plenty of kids on-hand to help celebrate! The birthday boy wasn't happy about sitting with the group, he wanted to stand in front - that's fine, it was HIS day :)
Finley really liked Will - he gave him the biggest smiles!
The best part of 1st Birthday parties? The cake!

Mama-To-Be got a little practice; BabyMac is scheduled to make an appearance in January! Craziest part? If I were Kristi, I'd be home with a baby already - she beat me!


Helmet update and random thoughts…
- Life with a helmet = not a lot of fun!
- It’s a pain to put on/off – Finley hates that part.
- Today is our first day of 23 hours – that’s a long time!
- Sleeping in it sucks – Finley isn’t doing well at night. He cried hourly the past two nights…a huge change from a baby that has slept through the night for months!
- The sunshade on the carseat has another purpose – it can be used to keep staring eyes off my baby.

- The word "helmet" still makes my stomach churn.

During the day Finley tolerates the helmet, but he certainly isn’t used to it. I’ve noticed he’s less active when it’s on – especially when he’s lying on the floor; I’m guessing it feels heavy?? He’s a different baby when it comes off, he kicks more, talks more, etc. I’m hoping it'll get better!

Trying to have a little fun, you’ll notice Finley is sporting a new logo, he’s Grandpa’s boy and proudly sports the M&J logo – just like Daddy and Grandpa’s hardhats!

Leaving you with my favorite picture of the week…Finley in his new zoo jammies. Is he smiling because the helmet is off or because he knows how silly he looks?!!? That's my monkey!

Finley's Helmet

Not sure what to say, there's no more pretending the flat-spot will go away on its own... Finley got his helmet today. I dread taking him out in public with it on, the stares will kill me. So, let's get it over with...here is Finley sporting his new head-gear... Yes, I picked out this outfit with just a touch of light blue. I was hoping it would match, surprise you?

Am I excited? No. Is it hard to see my baby in it? Yes. Have I cried today? Yes, a lot this evening. Will it be worth it in the end? It better be, or I'll be REALLY pissed - seriously :)
We met Olga today, she'll be the occupational therapist we'll see each appointment. She will make the adjustments every two weeks. She was very nice; she must've felt bad for me (tears) - I left with her home phone number and permission to call anytime.

The helmet was custom-made for Finley, today Olga finished the ear holes, and trimmed off the neck. It took about two hours, with lots of putting the helmet on, taking it off, sanding it down, etc; Finley put up with it pretty well.
After Olga made her markings, she'd go next door and do the sanding...we waited patiently.
Olga taught me how to put it on, how to clean it, and went over the adjustment period (in five days he'll be wearing it 23 hours each day). Olga guessed Finley's helmet-therapy to last four months...grrrr...I'm still hoping for only three...can you tell how excited I was?

Finley wore the helmet for 10 minutes before we left, over the adjustment period we are watching for red marks that don't disappear in an hour; that would signal an ill-fit. We go back on the 30th to see how the first week is going and they'll make necessary adjustments right away. Finley slept through his first "go" with the helmet...
Unfortunately he wasn't restful wearing it at home this evening; he hated it, he pulled at it, cried and only wanted to be held. An evening probably wasn't the best time to start (for today and tomorrow he wears it an hour, off for an hour, repeat), hopefully tomorrow will be better when he's not tired.

These pictures are deceiving from our evening at home...but here are a few from the first fifteen minutes he had it on. It went downhill after that, I counted down the 60 minutes...
Our first self-portrait with Finley's helmet...if I'm OK with it, everybody else should be too right?

Is my baby still super-cute? Yes!