DocBand

Preston finally got his Doc Band! Poor little guy has moderate Brachycephaly, which means that the back of his head is flatter than it should be. It's attributed to him liking to sleep on his back all the time and spending too much time in the bouncy chair. We've been considering it since he was about 5 or 6 months old and even took him to a consultation. When the results came back and the insurance denied coverage, I kind of let the issue go thinking that it will get better. At about 9 months, I thought I saw some improvement and wanted to make sure, so we took him back for a second consultation. I was pretty determined to go ahead and get it even if we had to pay for it out of pocket. However, I decided to put up a fight with insurance since he was so close to meeting their standard deviation requirement.

The second consultation yielded a slightly "worst" result for Preston...but it was good news for us because now he met insurance requirements. A week or so later, we heard back that we now have coverage, so we made another appointment to get his measurements, and then another appointment to fit him with his custom made helmet. The closest Cranial Tech to us is in Annandale..which is about an hour away, I am so thankful that Jack's flexible schedule allows him to take Preston on his now bi-weekly appointments. So on Preston's 10 months bday, he started wearing his band and I think we should be done in 3 months! Jack's been a wonderful dad through this whole ordeal and is great about taking Preston to his appointments. Thank you babe.

I think it looks so cute on him and i love how it's protecting his head as he's now crawling, climbing, falling, and bumping his head more than ever. A perfect example happened just as I was typing this entry last night, we heard a loud "thump" upstairs. I ran as fast as I could and found Preston on his tummy on our bedroom floor. He was sleeping, woke up, and rolled off our bed. I was so worried that he was hurt, but little guy stopped crying when I picked him up, he had his helmet on, and we walked away without a scratch! I officially love the helmet.

I will document his progress as we go through the treatment. So far so good. The downside I want to mention, and didn't read on other sites was how sweaty his head gets on the parts that the band covers. This makes it tricky in regards to how to dress him for bedtime and I wonder how do babies do this in the warmer months? Preston is lucky he's getting it now..

I want to share some pictures of how cute he looks with the band. We thought he'd hate it because he hated wearing hats...but he doesn't mind at all!

Merry First Christmas!

This Christmas was extra special to all of us for an obvious reason, we have Preston! We finally have an excuse to stand in line to take a photo with Santa at the mall, and so we did on Saturday morning at Lakesforest Mall. However, the experience was a bit different from what I envisioned. The Santa was no fun and he didn't smile. I think Preston felt Santa's awful vibe because he stared at Santa, turned to us with a look that says, get me out of here! Santa didn't play with him to get him to smile, he sat really stiffly in his chair and held Preston on his lap. We might as well have gotten his picture taken with a statue..at least the Santa would have nice, rosy cheesy and a big, fixed smile. Why Santa...why you have to ruin my baby's first photo?

Other than that though, we spent a lot of time with family, and playing with bows and presents under the xmas tree. Auntie Julie was in town and she helped me do my last minute xmas shopping, take care of Preston, and wrap all my presents for me! I wish I had her around me 24/7! She's like me x2, she can do everything I can/want to do but dont' have time to...and she does it better sometimes too. What a blessing to have her around the last 4 days as I ran around doing my last minute xmas shopping!

We hosted the family Christmas dinner at our house this year, which I think we do every year now that i think abou it. My siblings and I whipped up a feast, I am very proud to say everything turned out delicious and it was a wonderful meal with the family.

We didn't open our presents until after our late lunch/early dinner. Preston got a whole lot of things from his family and much needed books from Sarah and Allen. Jack got him a sports related toy where Preston can dunk bballs and hit baseballs, and maybe even throw a football? Surprise, surprise. I am sure he'll ove it. I got him his own wooden rocking horse. It'll look great in his room. Auntie Julie bought him his first Stride Rite 'walker' shoes..they are the cutest things and they look so good on him! Uncle Michael got him a bike toy that he can ride on and use as a walker. Grandparents got him clothes, money, and something he can ride, be pushed around next summer when he's older and can play outside. His friend Jonah also go him a walker toy. Preston is seriously, the luckiest baby on earth. He is surrounded by love all day, everyday, and especially on Christmas Day.

Anyways, Merry Christmas Preston! Poor baby wasn't feeling well and had a fever, otherwise, I am sure he would've been thrilled to rip through all his presents like he was trying to do the days leading up to Christmas. It was a great dinner, well worth all the work and clean-up because we were surrounded by our family and our beautiful baby boy. Merry Christmas to all!

 

 

 

10 Months

P is now 10 months old. I feel like so much he has changed so much during his 9th month. His personality is definitely coming out and we are loving it. He is such a rambunctious baby who can be so silly, lovable, loving, and fun most of all. He makes the most funny and adorable facial expressions, and we love capturing them all on pictures.  They really reflect his personality.

At 10 months old, P is crawling everywhere, pulling himself to a standing position in his crib, on my legs, anywhere really that he is able to. He's also able to walk side-ways while holding onto something. The only problem with this is that he pulls himself up in his crib during bed time all the time and refuses to lay down. Even though we wind down the night with quiet playing and reading in his room, and he's rubbing his eyes and ready to pass out, the moment I lay him down in his crib, he'll roll himself over and stand up. He waits for me to pick him up and as soon as I leave the room, he cries his eyes out. It's definitely time to referberize this little guy.

One really cute thing he learned at 9 months was how to communicate through pointing! He points and grunts at the direction he wants us to take him to, or things he wants to touch. He is also really good at signing milk to us. Life does get a little easier once they can communicate. I can't wait to see what else he'll learn in the next month..

Now, I present Preston at 10 months old! Such a big boy...he already has a knack for electronics..aiyaya.

Beautiful Baby

On November 15th, a beautiful crisp fall day, we drove all the way to Catonsville, MD to have Preston's baby picture taken. As a mother, I adore looking at baby photos and want to finally be able to have some of those adorable pictures of my own baby.  He will stay a baby for only so long and I want to remember everything about how he looks, how small he is, and how terribly innocent and precious his face looks...and so we got them. Kim, the photographer of Whimsy Baby, captured many such photos of Preston.

We'll cherish them forever...

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Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving! This year, like every year, we have so much to be thankful for. I feel so extremely blessed to be surrounded by supportive family and friends, and by the love and joy that little Preston has brought to our family. We are so thankful for him everyday. He is truly a precious gift that has brought us countless smiles, laughter, and memories.

It was Preston's first Thanksgiving and we were lucky to spend it with all of our families this year, well, minus Jack's dad. We drove to Gainesville, VA to have Thanksgiving lunch with Jack's family. While everyone had turkey and lobsters, Preston happily ate apple sauce and drank some milk. I wish he had more teeth so we could've given him some turkey too. I owe him a turkey once he has enough teeth to eat.

After lunch, we went back home to help prepare food for dinner, we had dinner at my parent's house this year. I am so glad my mom and dad were home for Thanksgiving, it's the first time I can remember my dad being home with us. It was also Julie's birthday! So we had all the more to celebrate. We got her a tart cake from Bertucci's..the best tart cake we've ever had! Preston fared through it all pretty well, although he only took 2.5 mini naps during the car rides. The day was too exciting for him to be able to sleep otherwise.

9 Months Old

Preston you are 9 months old today! We only have 3 months left to plan your birthday party...that's crazy. How is it that you've been here for 9 months already? One thing for sure, you've changed our lives in ways that I never imagine one little person could. You are very time consuming, everything we do revolves around you, and although you tire us out by the end of the day, we have amnesia the next morning and love you as fervently, care for you as diligently, and hold you as tightly as we did the day before. I think that's what unconditional love is...your grandmother was right, I didn't know until I had you.

At 9 months baby, you are crawling so well. It's fun to watch your little body wiggle across the floor and it's especially fun when you crawl to mommy and I scoop you up for a hug. You are a social baby, easy going with everyone and even gives strangers your precious smile. Your smile, by the way is contagious and it's the most beautiful gummy smile I will ever know. You've learned how to sign "milk milk" however, I think sometimes you just do it for fun and trick us! Oh well, over time, you'll understand better. Happy 9 months my baby!

Little Redskins Fan

Preston received a Santana Moss Redskins jersey from Uncle Warren during his baby shower. Although it's sized as an 18 month shirt, he is able to fit the jersey quite nicely at 8.5 months. Baby shirt sizing is a bit strange sometimes..in this case, it works out great for us because it's football season. I am sure Jack's happy that he has the opportunity to try to turn someone else in this house into a Redskins fan.

Preston on the Move!

Preston, you started crawling today at 8.5 months old! It took you about 10 days to master it. It all started on Halloween when Auntie Amy came over and started to demonstrate crawling to you on the floor. Even though you didn't get it right away, we kept showing you how to change from a sitting to a crawling position and how to move your knees. Eventually, you just picked it up and now you're crawling all over the place.

It's amazing watching your little body wiggle around floor. You are able to push yourself from a tommy position to a sitting position now too. Good job baby! We are so proud of you.

First Halloween

This Halloween, I rushed home a little earlier than usual so I could spend some extra time with Preston. We didn't have any plans to go trick-or-treating or go to a party, but we just wanted to dress him up in his costume, and snap some pictures while waiting for trick-or-treaters. Our little dragon baby dressed up as a dragon! I could not think of any other costume that would be more appropriate for him this year.

Preston didn't mind the getting dressed part..but..when it came time to don on the dragon head..oh boy did he have a fit! I guess the lessons are: 1) don't waste money again on a silly costume that he doesn't even like and will wear for less than an hour 2) get a costume where the head is attached to the body so he could wear it like a hoodie, which he doesn't mind. The head was a little big on him too, so the dragon's snout covered his eyes, and of course he didn't like that. We got a few good pictures though and a little narration to go with them. Enjoy!

Preston with everything but the dragon head on...grandma is holding him still while I wait for the right moment to put it on. 

It stayed on for 2 seconds before his hands shot up and yanked the head off, and banged it on the floor a few times, as if he was trying to kill it!

I tried to show him how fun it is to wear the hat, but Preston only found it fun-ny when it was on me. That hat was big, it fit my me pretty well! How do they expect a baby's head to fit it?!?

Preston got a break from me harassing him with the hat, so he laughed while I said, "no boots!" to entertain him. 

The little dragon ready to take off!

The best picture we got all night..unfortunately, daddy's legs are in the background..:/ but who cares! all you can focus on is that cute face!

Uh oh...the fiery of the dragon is awakened!

 Baby dragon is so mad! He really does hate it. Boo...

 Happy First Halloween anyways Preston! We love you, as you can see....:)