A Whole New Seth

Seth's Helmet

Seth first got his helmet from Cranial Technologies on June 6th to correct his plagiocephaly, for more on that see this post. It took a couple days to get used to but then became as normal to him as his own hair. With help from Sign Studios in San Diego, we decorated it with a race car theme.

On August 28th Seth got his second helmet. It was a hard week because we had a heat wave and he had acclimatized to not wearing one while the new helmet was being made. He eventually got used to this one and by the end, was ultra sensitive when we would take it off. We went back to Sign Studios and decorated this second helmet with a dump truck and the label "under construction." Everyone agreed that the second helmet suited him better.

On December 6, after 6 months of being a helmet head, Seth got his helmet off for good. We are SO pleased with the results and don't regret our decision to get the helmets. Seth would have been our cute little guy no matter what, but who would complain about a more symmetrical head shape?

Here are the before and after pictures to give an idea of just how much change has taken place in the past 6 months.
** Sadly, Seth's hair was bunched up on top under the sock but I think you can tell what is hair...

** The point on top is his hair :( I wish they had been able to retake them but we didn't realize until too late.

Cranial Technologies creates a mold of your baby's head so that you can compare the changes weakly. They give you the head molds when your treatment is done... We enjoyed getting lots of pictures with them but since they are extremely heavy and cumbersome and not the kind of decorations I like in my house, we did throw them away after that. The helmets are, however on Seth's bookshelf :)

As you can see, Seth looks MUCH more symmetrical :)


I couldn't do a post without a shout out to Seth's 11 month milestone. He is the best kid in the universe. His laugh has everyone in stitches and he is so loving. He is walking around and says ball, mama and dada (sort of). He loves carrying things around in his hands, eating blueberries and black beans and gives kisses on demand. He is always getting into trouble and tries to climb everything. We love our little guy and can't believe how fast this year is going.

Santa's Village by the Sea

Getting in the Mood

Friday we had Brandon's work holiday party. My friend, Madi, glammed me up and I LOVED my hair. It was fun to get all dressed up and go out to a nice dinner and dancing (or should I say, watching other people dance..) We got pictures taken there but don't have them yet. Madi got some with her phone of my hair and make-up which I was the best part anyway. I got to wear the dress my mom made me over the summer and got several compliments on it, she will be SO happy.

 Yesterday we went to our community holiday celebration event called Santa's Village by the Sea. It is so much fun, they make snow on the hill outside the library and let the kids sled down ($1 per slide, of course!) They have cookie decorating, popcorn, The Polar Express playing and of course, Santa Clause. I am pretty sure I was the most excited one in our group.

Seth is the kid who will go to anybody happily. I can leave him with a stranger and he will have a great time. Lately, he has been on a "I prefer women" kick but he especially likes elderly men so we were thinking pictures with Santa would be an awesome experience, we would have the baby who didn't cry.... well, thats not quite how it went down.

Here is Seth in line for Santa. As the line moved forward, Seth locked himself in place and would NOT move. He was quite hesitant of the Elf. Once she started talking to him, he walked right over to her.

But as we got close to Santa, he would not move again. He even tried to sit down and grab me.

I figured we would just make it fast and he would be happy. I picked him up and put him on Santa's leg. Didn't work.

We did get one moment of peace as he looked into Santa's face... it didn't last long though.

We ended the night by going to this old mission style beach house that was donated to the community. It is like a mini-museum with pictures of San Clemente through the years and lots of newspaper articles. It has a beautiful view of the ocean and pier and it was all decorated for Christmas. There were also carolers and a bell choir (which was not as good as my mother-in-laws but still fun to listen to). Seth and daddy also got some bonding time while they waited for dinner, their favorite activity together is watching top gear. Seth LOVES cars!

Did you notice what's missing in all these pictures?? Seth graduated from his helmet on December 6. He misses it and I kept having him wear it. Brandon threatened to throw it away if I put it on him again so I put it on his book shelf with the other one where it will stay :(. 

My next post will be the before and after pics of the helmet, I can't wait to show off the changes!