Saturday, March 13, 2010

Go Speed Racer, Go

My little furry headed boy is now a helmet head. His torticollis and our slavish insistence that he sleep on his back (swaddled as tightly as a burrito) has resulted in a flat head. Parental guilt dictates that that be corrected, as well as the possibility that the bald is beautiful movement heats up in his later years. He has adjusted well; his parents? Not so well.

Our first experience with another little helmet head was at the plastic surgeon's office for Adam's consultation. I went over to talk to the mother (of said little helmet head) to find out how it was going and got a good look at her son. One eye was squinty, the other was as wide open as a cyclops. His skin around the helmet was red and scratchy and he looked, well, foul. She brought him over to see Adam, who eyeballed the boy and then looked up at me and said, "Ah Goo." "Ah Goo" is universal Adamese for, "what the hell are you getting me into." I assured him that he was too darn cute to get the permanent stink eye.

Take a look at the picture above. Yes, Ah Goo.

He's actually loving the helmet, though it's impeding some of his developmental milestones. For example, he's learned that crawling's more fun if he uses his helmet to propel himself forward rather than his hands. Look, Ma, no hands! I've caught him banging his head on the hardwood floors and deliberately rolling into furniture just to experience the inner helmet twanging sensation. The great thing is that he was helmeted during our viewing of the winter Olympics so he was able to bond with his own kind.

His sleeping sucks, truly sucks. I'm not sure if it's helmet related or teething related, but he's definitely regressed. Last night, he woke up every three hours. Crying, inconsolable. I can handle this much better now than when he was an infant and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I still don't know what the hell I'm doing but I figure the child will sleep through the night at some point in his life. It now makes sense to me why people have children in their 20s and not their 40s; they're too young and dumb to have any expectations.

I hope all is well out there in blogland. More later.

5 comments:

Rebeccah said...

Well, the good news is that he looks adorable in his helmet! I hear that those things can work pretty quickly. In the meantime, I could cheer you up by telling you about Squeaker, who has decided that it's really fun to bang his head on the floor whenever he's laying down (like, for instance, every single time we change his diapers) -- one would think it would hurt, but he's apparently got a really high pain threshold. He may just bang himself a flat head and join your little guy in Olympic helmet land ...

As for sleep -- oh no! Hoping it's a temporary regression ...

Birdee said...

Your post cracks me up!
He does look adorable in his helmet.
You'll be so glad you got one for him. I have two family members who did not and their kids heads are perminantly severly flat on one side. Even a full head of hair can't cover up the flat spot.
It would be nice if they were DOT approved, I'd get my baby one for when riding on the Harley (soon as we figure how to strap a carseat to it) I'm glad he's adjusting well, I know it must be hard on you.

As far as sleep, I havent had anything more than 3 hour stretches in months and months - which I'm thinking is a good thing. I got used to nothing, this is our norm. However he got tubes put in his ears Friday and has slept 7-8 hour stretches since.

Paula Keller said...

Hope the sleeping gets better! Geezzz!

Apparently someone bought us two pink miricle blankets off of our registry! Thanks for that suggestion. I hope they work well for us.

SassyMama said...

My daughter had a helmet for two months and I am so glad that we did it! It is a pain, I know, but I hope it works quickly. He looks really cute in his helmet.

Here's hoping he starts sleeping better...

Walts Mom - Julie said...

I love your blog. I am so happy to see another woman refer to her baby as magical. I think my Walter is magical too. He will be getting his helmet on May 21st. I know that he will be as cute as your Adam. The mention of the "Stink Eye" boy scares me a little bit though. Take Care! You have a new reader in me.