Happy Six Month Cranioversary, Belle!
That's right! It's been six whole months since her surgery in July and we just got the O.K. to stop wearing the helmet for good!
The saddest picture I have
It's been a struggle for all of us, but our little Belle Valory lived up to her name: Beautiful and Brave in every way. She's been a real trooper through the whole ordeal (surgery, helmet, and all) and is truly what they call a Cranio-Hero just like her daddy.
She's made great progress and the doctors say she's recovered beautifully. You can really see a difference in her head shape from when she was first diagnosed:
So, apart from all that head shaping, what else has Belle been up to for the last six months?
Well...
She Learned How to Go to Sleep All By Herself
In what was probably the best impulse decision I've ever made, I borrowed "Solve Your Baby's Sleep Problems" by Richard Ferber from a friend. Well... it wasn't really an impulse decision, we'd been throwing the idea of sleep training around for a little while but we weren't actually sold on the idea until reading the book (which we ended up buying). First of all its not what you think! It doesn't mean you just let your baby sit and cry until they finally go to sleep, it's a much more hands on approach that deals with teaching your baby how to be independent when it comes to sleep and self soothing. That's where the goofy doll up there comes in handy, he's her little sleep-cuddle buddy. Mommy, Daddy, and Belle are all much less cranky during the day when she sleeps all during the night!
She Learned How to Eat "Big People Food"
After weeks of wanting to sit at the table with the big people at dinnertime and struggling to get whatever delicious morsel was on Mommy's fork, we decided it was time to get her into some baby food. We tried making our own which was easy enough but she just would not eat it. So we just bought some instead and after a few tries she loves it! Her favorites are carrots, squash, and any fruits she can get her hands on (especially apples!)
She Learned How to Dance
She gets her sense of rhythm from her Daddy.
She Grew Enough Hair for Pigtails
Like most babies, Belle has that little bald spot on the back of her head from rubbing up on the car seat (though hers is probably more so from rubbing up on the helmet). But the rest of her hair grows freakishly fast, so much so that even the doctor made a comment about how long her hair was when she was being delivered, so she has two long little wisps of hair that fall down at the back. So what else can we do but pigtails? We pin her long hair as the reason a lot of people guess she's older than she is (it's certainly not her size, she's a little shrimp!)
She Learned How to Crawl
Belle has always had a habit of reaching mostly for things that are either dangerous, painful, or expensive. The family Macbook for example. So when she started rocking back and forth on her hands and knees like she was ready to crawl, I figured I'd give her a little incentive. She just loves to press the keys so I put it a few feet in front of her and what do you know she was off like a shot.
Her Favorite Things to Do Are:
Visit Daddy at Work (and steal his keys)
Play with all her Aunts and Uncles
Help Mommy with the Laundry
Play with all her toys
Play Xbox with Daddy
Take baths with her duckies
Help Grandpa Follett sneak up on Grandma Follett
Watch movies with Grandma and Grandpa Swensen
Smile!
