Yes, Your Baby's Head is Shaped Funny

At Aubrey's 2 month check up, the doctor pointed out that she favors one side of her head and told us to start encouraging her to look to the other side. So we did, and she is getting much better about turning both ways. As I spent more and more time worrying about if my baby was turning her head both ways, I noticed that her head was kind of lopsided, but didn't really think too much about it.

Then I took this picture, which is quite alarming.

For a couple days I told myself that it was just the way she was laying. Then I mentioned it to Jon and he agreed that from certain angles her head is shaped kind of funny. Of course, I researched it on the internet - which I know can be dangerous - but after some reading I decided I wanted to go back to the doctor to get their opinion.

So today I was that crazy mom who takes her baby to the doctor for random reasons. It was, of course, a different pediatrician than the one we saw at her 2 month check -up. Fortunately the doctor didn't look at me like I was crazy and automatically disregard my concerns. I really liked her and she spent a lot of time with the baby and talking to me. Basically what she said is exactly what I titled this entry - Yes, your baby's head is shaped funny. She did say that her neck movement is good, but that the side she favors is the side that is not as flat - and it should be that the side she favors is the flatter side. If the flat side was the side she tends to lay on it would explain it, but its the exact opposite. She checked all the points in her head where the skull fuses together and she said that they all appear to be open ( this is good they should still be open). She wants to wait and see what happens between now and her 4 month check-up, which is in about 5-6 weeks. Her head will grow between now and then and it will either be more noticeable or start to correct itself. Depending on what happens, she will decide from there.

If there is a problem it will be fixable, but it will be a lengthy process. The first steps will be xrays and cat scans of Aubrey's head to check the points in her skull. Obviously we don't want to put her through that, so lets all hope it turns out to be nothing!

Updates and Pictures

For once, I really don't have any major events to write about, so here are some cute pictures and updates.

Aubrey and Hailey trying out the crib

After my dad and Judy left I decided that Haileys days of sleeping wherever she wanted to were over. We bought this weird lock that makes it so she can't open her door but it isn't closed all the way either. My sleep book said that it is what we would need because we can't physically keep her in her room. The book also said that children who were previously sleep trained and just going through a rough patch would generally only need one night with the lock and then they would stay in their beds so that the lock wouldn't need to be used. I sincerely doubted it would only be one night - Hailey is a very persistent child.

But, once again I was wrong and that book was right. She screamed her head off for about 10 minutes and then I calmed her down and she went to sleep. She got up one more time and yelled again, but I calmed her down and she went to sleep. Since then she has gone to bed every night and stayed there for the most part - we found her in the chair in the loft several times and just last night I found her on the couch, but she doesn't remember it in the morning and goes back to bed without a fight. She is getting more creative though - last night she got up when Jon got home from work ( it was late ) and told him there was a fly in her room and he needed to get it. For some reason she is terrified of flies, but thinks bees, snakes, ghosts, monsters etc are all fascinating.

The same night that we locked Hailey in her room was Aubrey's first night in her crib. She does pretty well in her crib - she generally goes to sleep between 7 -9 every night and will get up around 2 and then at 5 am. The 5 am wake-up is annoying because she isn't hungry - she is just done sleeping on her own and wants someone to hold her. It won't be so bad next week when I go back to work because I have to get up at that time anyway :(

This is a Flamingo Stand - she learned this at gymnastics

Hailey loves football. She will sit and watch a whole game and actually asks to watch "Penn Stake" when we ask her what show she wants to watch. Grandpa got her the jammies she is wearing in the pictures above and she wants to wear them every night now.

Aubrey doing tummy time

Aubrey is not a fan of tummy time, but the doctor said we have to do it to help her start turning her head the way that she doesn't like to. We have another doctor appointment tomorrow about that - so more on that later.

Aubrey is having a fit and trying to smother herself and Hailey is pretending that her feelings are hurt because I took a picture of Aubrey without her in it. Her face is so cute though, I had to share it!

Grandpa and Grandma Judy's visit

Yay! My dad came to visit us!

My dad is not a traveller - he visited us once the first time we lived in Panama City, and now five years or so later, her is visiting again. Needless to say, we were very excited for the visit, and we had a busy 5 days. Here is what we did:

- Went to the fountain and Five Guys: Hailey showed them all her antics in the fountain, and my dad loved Five Guys as much as Hailey does. It was Saturday, so their was a band at the fountain, a face painter and some random guy juggling. They got the whole experience - including Hailey trying to stop the water with her little butt.

-Buckroe Beach: Judy's oldest son drove down from Washington DC with his wife Nikki. They wanted to go to Virginia Beach, but the Rockn Roll Half Marathon was that weekend. 20,000 people run that race, so we didn't attempt to deal with that and took them to Buckroe Beach in Hampton. It was perfect weather and I think everyone had a nice time.

- Busch Gardens - andsaw Herman's Hermits in concert: I had no idea who Herman's Hermits were, but Dad and Judy were super excited and it we all had a lot of fun. Hailey loves music and dancing, so she thought it was great, and Aubrey slept.

Jon, Hailey and Aubrey enjoying Herman's Hermits

-The next day they went to see Avatar and then babysat the girls so we could go see Inception: Jon and I haven't been to a movie together (unless you count Toy Story 3) since before we had Hailey. He really wanted to see this movie, and I only freaked out for about an hour. The movie was fantastic and my girls were extremely well cared for and spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa.

-Tuesday was Haileys first day of school: It was great that they got to share this big day with us! They were able to go in her school and meet her teacher. I love when we get to share momentous occasions with our family

One fake first day of school smile:)

After she got done with school we went to Williamsburg and visited the Harley store, the outlets, and the gigantic Yankee Candle Store.

- Wednesday brought a visit to Virginia Beach and another Harley Store where my dad got a Harley T - shirt that has fighter jets on it! ( they are F14s, but still jets, so its cool. He almost didn't buy it because he felt he was betraying Jon, but I assured him it was fine) That evening after we picked Jon up from work we went to another Harley store - the biggest one in our area and then to dinner.

- On Thursday they left, but not before we took them to "the biggest McDonalds ever". Its not really, but Hailey thinks it is. We were all very sad to see them go :(

If you haven't figured it out yet, my dad is a Harley guy. He had a Harley when we were little, but he sold it along the way. He recently purchased another one and he loves it. Jon and I try to get a Harley T-shirt for him on all of our travels, and he truly cherishes them.

My dad is quite the character, too. He loves his grandchildren ( Hailey is #4 and Aubrey is #6 of 6, although #7 is currently baking) and he taught Hailey all kinds of fun things during their stay. Her favorite new game is The potato chip bag game - she puts her hand in the bag to get a chip and he clasps the bag around her arm. She laughed hysterically every time, not to mention she got to eat a pretty much unlimited amount of chips.

The potato chip bag game combined with "where is the clip?!"

She was also a big fan of eating cookies for breakfast - which is my dad's breakfast of choice. My dad, who HATES playing board games, played numerous games of Princess memory and Preschool lotto, not to mention pushed Hailey on her swing just about every time she asked. Grandma Judy was also playing all these games and taking her turns at pushing on the swing, on top of snuggling the baby and helping with Hailey on all of our adventures.

My Not-So-Big Daughters

On September 1st Aubrey was 8 weeks old and we had her 2-month check up. Hailey needed a physical for school and I was extremely lucky and able to get TWO appointments in Pediatrics back to back.

Aubrey's appointment went great. She smiled and cooed at the doctor and showed him her happy personality. She weighed 8lbs 15 oz and was 21 inches long. We talked about her spitting up through her nose and how much she hates that, and he suggested trying the formula that has the rice starch in it - because it is thicker and helps with spitting up. He said that there isn't any real reason to have her on soy - which I was really happy about because soy formula really smells and the spit up is even worse. He noticed that Aubrey favors turning her head to the right and instructed us to start encouraging her to work on turning the other way. She can turn her head the other way and I knew that she preferred looking right but it did not occur to me that it could become a problem, so I was happy he pointed it out and now we are aware of it and she is doing better.

Aubrey is still eating every 3 hours and up several times during the night. At 8 weeks she is the size of some newborns, so I think it might be because she just isn't that big. I looked to see how much Hailey weighed at 8 weeks and she was 10lbs 8 oz - which is a significant difference. In the week since her appointment Aubrey has been eating more at each feeding - so maybe someday she might sleep more than 3 hours at a time.

Hailey wanted nothing to do with the doctor. We told her she had to go to the doctor to make sure she is big enough to go to school. She really wants to go to school, so she agreed but then was not cooperative when we got her there. Thankfully, the pediatrician was great and coerced her into doing what she needed to do. She weighs 28lbs and is exactly 3 ft tall - which puts her in the 9th percentile for height and 13th for weight...Jon asked if I think she might have a growth spurt ever. I was always a very small child so I am not surprised at her size - my sister claims that everyone thought I was a midget. I never had a huge growth spurt but I am 5'3" now, and that is a normal height. Besides, Hailey is going to be an Olympic gymnast, so she doesn't need to be tall!

A Most Horrifying Experience

But first, some cute pictures!

Hanging out with his girls at the free concert in the park

Hailey loves to hold the baby, they have started having conversations

My new stroller...I need to lose 17 lbs in 3 weeks inorder to fit into my work clothes

Last week was our week of doctor appointments.

Aubrey's ultrasound was uneventful - I still have no idea if anything was found, and am assuming that the pediatrician will have the results and discuss them with me at her 2-month check up (whichis next wednesday - can you believe that!?)

Tuesday was the ENT for Aubrey's ear tag. I haven't talked much about her ear tag - it wasn't anything major (you can see it in some of the pictures Lauren took) but it was weird and we wanted it removed as soon as it could be. I don't know what I thought was going to happen at the ENT appointment, but it was the MOST horrible thing I have had to do/see as a mother so far....

I was about 20 minutes late for the appointment - which is a big no-no here - but the phone people didn't tell me that ENT was at the NASA clinic, so I went to the hospital. I don't know where the NASA clinic is, and the map I was given had been copied so many times, it was unreadable, not to mention the hospital I was in was not on the map. I have no sense of direction anyway, Jon wasn't answering his phone, but I managed to figure it out by leaving the base and driving around to go in the NASA gate. Anyhoo, the doctor came right in and she was super nice. She looked at it and determined that she could just cut it off. I said "Like, right now?" and she said yes, or that I could make another appointment and come back. It is not easy to get appointments, so I went with right now - all the while starting to panic and hoping that Jon would answer his phone and magically materialize to take care of this for me. He did

answer the phone but told me he could not get there, he had to debrief.

The doctor explained what she was going to do, so I was aware of what was going to happen. She gave the baby a shot of lidocaine and she screamed. I hoped that was going to be the worst of it and she wouldn't feel the rest...but that was not the case.

It is upsetting me to even write this.

Next came the clamp which sort of squeezed it flat right where it attached to her head - I have never seen a baby turn that color or scream that loud - mind you I am holding her down. The doctor left at this point to go get someone to help hold her because I was doing a bad job and probably looked like I was going to lose it ( not sure what "it" is but I definitely was very close to tears and throwing up) Now it was time to cut it off, which she did with a very small and very sharp scissor like thing. More screaming - and it wasn't over...the doctor needed to trim it THREE times. I wanted it to look as good as possible, but sheesh. Then it wouldn't stopbleeding so she had to cauterize it, which of course caused more screaming. Its been a week now and it is still healing but looks really good and doesn't seem to bother her at all.

The third appointment was my 6 week check up. I am fine and healed nicely and able to run and swim and...do other things...again. I had developed a very itchy allergic reaction to something around my incision about 2 weeks prior to that appointment. It wasn't bad at first, and Jon kept assuring me that itching was a good thing and meant I was healing. It got worse every day, but I knew I had that appointment so just waited till then. The doctor told me she had no

idea what I could be allergic to - I have no allergies and it didn't start until a month after my surgery. She gave me hydrocortisone. It didn't help at all and by Friday I couldn't stand it anymore. I was contemplating using the spray we use on Rolo when he is itching, so I called and got an appointment with a Flight doctor. That doctor and another one both had no idea what it was but he gave me zyrtec and some other really strong steroid cream. Its getting better now, but still not perfect and the zyrtec makes me even more tired than I already am, which means I am really not a nice person right now!

In other news, the girls are doing great. Hailey had parents night at gymnastics so I was able to go in and take some pictures.

Hailey starts preschool on September 7th and is extremely excited. She is going 3 half days a week. I bought her some workbooks and these BrainQuest card things and we have been doing them at home. She loves them - she asks to do her workbook all the time, and today I finally feel like she is starting to recognize her numbers. She can count and say her ABC's but has had no interest in trying to learn any letter other than H (her letter) and 3 (she is that many). She amazes me at how much she knows and remembers and how quickly she learns.

I got her to start going to bed in her bed again, but it only lasts about 2 hours and then she sleeps on the couch. I will fix this somehow, someday. Our next house not going to have an upstairs. Jon and I were talking about how wrong this house is for us and I pointed out to him that we all live in half of our house - we don't use the upstairs for anything - its a big storage area.

Aubrey is growing growing growing. She smiles now, and we love her smile - it is goofy and crooked and adorable. Her daytime sleep is starting to organize and she sleeps well at night, just not for any significant period of time, and usually by 3 am she is done sleeping in her bed and I have to hold her.

This is our neighbor Martina - we call her the Baby Whisperer - both girls just adore her

She is doing much better on Soy Formula. She spits up less and doesn't seem to be in pain. I hate the way it smells though, so I hope we don't have to use it forever!

Hostage

I am being held hostage in my bedroom by my 3 yr old. She refuses to sleep in her bed, so she is sleeping on the couch, which means that at approximately 8 pm each night, we have to either go to bed (not usually a problem considering the lack of sleep) or hang out in our room - which, given the circumstances - means we fall asleep. The whole couch conundrum is stressing me out. Hailey has never been allowed to sleep with us unless we are on vacation. I don't mind snuggling her, but Jon hates it, so she has always slept in her room. Over her 3 years we have had a handful of sleeping problems, but my trusty sleep book has guided us through all of them. Jon is ok with the couch set up, because she isn't in bed with us. I don't like her on the couch because I cherish the two hours between her bedtime and mine, and really don't want to be confined to my room. She says she just doesn't like the upstairs anymore, and I understand that she wants to be downstairs with us and the baby, but I still don't like it, and I am not sure how I am going to fix it! My book does not address this issue very well!

This does give me time to update my blog, so this is what is going on here!

Jon is TDY. Its been a long two weeks, starting last Tuesday with a very long overnight flight that turned into 3 long work days for him, and then he had to work all weekend to get ready for his current TDY. (He was TDY when I wrote this, but again, it takes me about 3 days to finish a blog, so he is home now.)

We tried to have the baby's pictures taken again. I can't remember if I ever wrote about the first attempt - it did not go well. Aubrey was 2 weeks old for that one, and wanted absolutely nothing to do with that picture lady and her camera. Lauren ( the photographer) is a magician or a genius or something, however, and managed to get a fantastic picture of both of my my girls. Unfortunately it was during the taking of that picture that we accidentally helped poor Aubrey's umbilical stub thing fall off, which made her very very upset and we had to leave. I decided to try again this past Friday. I managed to get all of us in the car on time, only to discover that the GPS that has Lauren's address in it was not in my car. At the time, I thought Jon took it and had it in his car, but I later learned that it was stolen. It was of course like 110 degrees with 200% humidity, but I ran inside and mapquested myself to an address that I thought might be Laurens and then proceeded to be lost for about 45 minutes. When I finally arrived I realized that the bag with the wardrobe changes for the girls was still at home on the kitchen table, which would have been sort of ok, except that due to the heat, I had dressed Hailey in part of two outfits that did not even remotely match.

Aubrey did a little better this time, and Lauren got a few more pictures, but Aubrey still didn't really like it. So, we left again, and I got lost on the way home too. The following is the link to Lauren's blog which has some of the photographs on it. I am having trouble making it just take you there, but if you copy it and paste it, it should work for you...I hope so because the pictures are great.

http://laurendunlapphotography.blogspot.com/2010/08/introducing-baby-aubrey-hampton-roads.html

While I am off work this summer, I signed Hailey up for gymnastics, soccer and swimming. She is currently in a 2-week swim session where she goes Monday thru Thursday from 9-9:30. I managed to get all three of us there all four days this week. I am generally not out of pajamas, and Hailey's hair is rarely combed, but its at the YMCA and she is swimming so I decided not to care and just be happy that we left the house. She is a great little swimmer and we finally got the good teacher, so it is going very very well.

Her gymnastics class is fantastic and she LOVES it. I haven't been able to take any pictures because I don't actually get to go in with her - she does it all by herself and I can see her thru a window. Its in a real gymnastics center and has all the real equipment. She is so adorable and learning a ton. I had to bribe her the first few times with Dairy Queen, which is on the way home, and now she thinks she gets it every time. I love DQ = DQ every Tuesday for dinner!

Soccer is parent/child soccer and Jon takes her. He says she doesn't love it and would rather play on the bleachers. They didn't go today and are outside doing lawn work instead. She must be learning something though, because the other day she set up a line of baby dolls on the floor and told me to "drivel the soccer ball through the cones".

This upcoming week is a week of doctor appointments. Monday the baby has a hip ultrasound and its at the Navy hospital that is about 30 minutes away. Because she was breech and a girl she needs to have her hips checked. Hopefully everything will be fine, because I really do not want for her to have to wear a brace. Tuesday is Aubrey's appointment with the ENT. She has an ear tag, which is basically an extra piece of skin right by her ear. When I had her all the doctors and nurses assured me that its no big deal and they could just "tie it off." At her two week appointment, a different pediatrician told me that they won't do anything about it until she is at least a year old because it is cosmetic. She also told me to put rice cereal in my newborns bottle to help with her spit up problem. I was not happy with either of these answers and she begrudgingly gave me the ENT referral. I am hoping for easy answers on Tuesday. Aubrey gets fussier and gassier and acts like she is in more pain each day. I don't think its acid reflux, but I am covered in baby spit up all the time, and she screams like she is pain a good portion of each day. Yesterday I decided (because my sister told me to) to try soy formula. She seems a little better today, but I think its because Jon is home, and she always acts better when he is around.

Soy formula spit up smells way worse. Plus I don't think I can call what Aubrey does "spit up". Its way way worse than that. My ENT referral is not for this issue, but I figure an ENT specialist might have some insight on this matter.

Wednesday is my six week appointment. Hopefully that will mean I can use my brand new Schwinn Arrow Double Jogging Stroller and start losing the rest of my baby weight!

Well, this blog is getting long, so here are some pictures..

This is what your 3 yr old does when daddy isn't watching but should be....

Aubrey spending some quality time with Dad and learning the importance of video games

Being entertained by the ceiling fan

Hailey getting splashed by a ride at Busch Gardens. We ventured there last Saturday with both girls. It went ok, and Hailey was happy.

Aubrey spent most of the BG trip in my brand new Baby Bjorn that I got with all the gifts and giftcards from my friends and Nana and Papa. She loves this thing, which is good because she hates the car seat, and she spends a lot of time in it when I am trying to do stuff with Hailey.

We got out the play gym for the baby because she likes stretching out. Big sister immediately crawled in too. Disregard the fact that she has no shirt...Hailey doesn't feel the need to wear any clothes most of the time.

On my Own

It's been 4 weeks since I had Aubrey and the time seems to have gone by fast. It is certainly a big change to go from one child to two, but overall we are surviving. The hardest part for me is not the baby - its Hailey and being with her all day. I love and adore her, but I am not used to entertaining her all day, answering "why" all day, and most recently dealing with her new-found love of throwing massive tantrums...

My good friends who have 3 kids often tell me that one to two is hard but two to three is no problem. I do not intend to find out if going from 2 to 3 is no prob...I will just accept my beloved big sister's word on that...you can just let me know, Sister!

My mom was here for the first three weeks and it was a huge help to have an extra set of hands. By the time she left I think we were nervously ready to handle it on our own. We had a lot of company (3 weeks straight starting less than 24 hours after getting home from the hospital) which we enjoyed and appreciated, but I felt like I needed to do everything myself to accept that I am capable.

I keep reminding myself that everybody else has two kids and manages, and also that I need to enjoy Aubrey as an infant because we have no intention of having another baby. (I reserve the right to change my mind, but really don't think we will. And yes, I know I said that Hailey was going to be an only child...but I mean it this time - 2 is enough and sisters are perfect) Reminding myself to enjoy Aubrey really works - if I find myself getting frustrated because I can't get anything done while holding a screaming/sleeping/eating infant I just think about that and enjoy how tiny she is instead! I have also started doing everything that needs to be done (cleaning, dishes, wash bottles, laundry, play with Hailey, take a shower...) at the first opportunity instead of putting it off till later. I am not worrying about it then, but I also pretty much never sit down...unless I am feeding the baby!

I think Aubrey is a relatively normal baby. She cries when she is unhappy and sometimes just because, and prefers to be held at all times, especially at night. Jon and I have developed a sleeping routine that works well for us...I go to bed right after we get Hailey in bed and sleep for about 3 hours while he cares for Aubrey in the living room. Between midnight and 1 am I switch with him, and go sleep sitting up with the baby on the couch and he goes to bed. It is a great plan, till you throw in the wrench called Hailey. The munchkin has always been a great sleeper, but has taken to getting up every hour or two for an array of reasons that she cooks up. It is extremely frustrating for me to successfully get Aubrey to sleep in her bassinet thingy and be in the middle of my 2.5 hours of desperately needed couch sleep and have to get up multiple times to return Hailey to her bed. Not to mention, this means Hailey is not sleeping well, and Hailey needs her sleep. She still takes a 2 hour nap everyday and is ready for bed by 8:30.

I am very thankful that I have a rare 3 yr old who needs and wants her naps.

Because Hailey is waking up every 1-2 hours, she isn't getting proper rest and has been more than difficult to manage during the day (which is the cause of the massive tantrums). I need to read in my sleep book about the effects of a new sibling and also about toddler nightmares. I put it on the to-do list. We think it is a combination of these things, and also the fact that Hailey is an extremely light sleeper and wakes up when she hears the baby crying and us moving around downstairs.

Last night Jon and I switched sleep times and he went to bed early and took the 2 am till morning shift on the couch. When I got up this morning I found him sleeping sitting up and holding a very happy and snuggly little Aubrey in one arm and a sprawled out Hailey fast asleep on the couch next to him. He says he decided it was better to just let her sleep on the couch than have to keep putting her back in bed. Survival. If I had done that I would have been subjected to one of his parenting book lectures. It has taken me three days to write this entry and since the first day we have given up on Hailey and just let her sleep on the couch with the rest of us. Its a good thing its a really big couch :)

I am very thankful for my husband. He is a wonderful father and extremely supportive. His attitude through all of this has been great and he is still managing to work a standard 11 - 14 hour day.