Rockin' the Helmet

I just realized that CB's been sporting his new helmet for a few weeks now and I haven't posted pictures yet. As much as I was originally fretting about it, I have to say, he's still cute regardless of what you put on his head. And yes, we added the racing stripes ourselves. 

When he got the helmet the doctors told us to ease him into it. I guess if you're going to wear something 23 hours a day for 3 months, you can't just jump into it full-time. As directed by the experts, the first day, CB wore it 1 hour on/1 hour off. The second day it was 2 hours on/1 hour off. The third day was 4 hours on/1 hour off and included sleeping with it during nap time. That third night was his first time sleeping with it on (more about that later). And finally, the fourth day he wore it 8 hours on/1 hour off and from then on was wearing it full-time.

Overall, he adjusted to wearing it quite well. He would occasionally feel his head and look up above his eyes to see the helmet hanging over his face. But after a little bit, wearing it during the day was easy. The hardest part? The first night sleeping with it.

Now I've mentioned how CB's a good sleeper. That's what got us into this situation. But that first night wearing the helmet to bed he was up every hour crying - not normal. Thankfully this only lasted one night. The second night sleeping with it he woke up a few times during the night, but it progressively got better until he was back to his normal routine. Yay!

He's been such a trooper with his new look. When we take it off in the evenings to clean the helmet (with rubbing alcohol) and wash his hair, he caresses the back of his head almost like he's making sure his hair is still there. He cuddles his face up against us, since the helmet does limit the type of hugs and kisses he gets. We've even started massaging his head while the helmet is off and you can see his eyes roll back into his head - I think that means he likes it.

And we've been pleasantly surprised by people's reactions to him in public. He's still the same old CB - flirting, smiling and talking to anyone he sees. He continues to make friends at the grocery store and we still get comments about how cute our little man is. Why was I even worried?

The best part is that we keep having people recommend what football team emblem should be on the side of his helmet. Cowboys? Utah Utes? Broncos? Since we still can't decide, it will stay plain for now. But that won't stop my boys from watching football and cheering on their favorite team.