Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving usually involves a huge Brown family get-together in Hartley, but this year we just couldn't make it. Jordan and Keisha couldn't either, so we all gathered here in Montgomery for our own mini-Brown-Family-Thanksgiving.  We had a huge meal of turkey, dressing, Nana's macaroni and cheese, greenbean casserole, sweet potato souflee, deviled eggs, pink salad, pecan pie, and cherry-o-cream pie.  Tru and Gabriel played nicely together, and all the adults played lots and lots of games.  Thanks for coming, Jordan and Keisha!

Tru's shirt says, "I'm stuffed!"

Oh yeah. He's a Brown boy.

The brothers holding each other's boys.

Keisha, Gabriel, Truie, and Jordan

The whole fam...and Truie's foot.

Truie, move your foot.

The Helmet

After Tru was born, he kept his head in the same position all the time.  Every time I put him down, I would try to rotate it, but either he'd go rigid and not move, or he'd immediatley move it back.  We started propping him up under his shoulder to force his head to roll the other direction, and that worked for a little while.  I then bought him a Boppy Noggin Nest to cradle his head in a neutral position.  By 2 weeks of age, I started to notice a flat area on his head.  I asked the peds in Altus about it, but he was so young when we left (2 months old), it wasn't a worry yet.  When we got here to Alabama, I started asking the ped on base.  I have been very frustrated with Tru's doctor here.  She wouldn't answer my questions or take me seriously.  I asked her about his flat head (very noticable now) 4 times between 4 and 7 months of age.  At his 7-month appointment, I insisted she give me a referral to a pediatrics neurosurgeon and cranio-facial specialist.  She initially turned me down, but I wouldn't budge.  I got the referral.

We drove to Birmingham (over 2 hours away) to see these specialists in a plagiocephaly clinic at Children's Hospital of Alabama.  The neurologist did not see any problems with Tru's brain function (praise God!), so we didn't need to pursue anything in that field.  The plastic surgeon (cranio-facial specialist) said Tru has a moderate case of positional/deformational plagiocephaly.  He had us talk to an orthopedics specialst who was there at the clinic.  We made an appointment with him (Todd) for the next week in his office in Tuscaloosa (2.5 hours away).

The next week, we met with Todd to scan Tru's head.  The scan tells us measurements of asymmetry in millimeters.  The scale:  up to 5 mm - nothing to worry about; 6 - 8 mm - it's up the parents whether or not to put the child in a cranial band (helmet); over 8 mm - cranial band is recommended; 12 mm and up is severe.  Tru's asymmetry is 10.2 mm.

Tru began cranial band therapy 19 November when we picked it up from Todd.  Here is what it will mean for us:  Tru has to wear it 23 hours a day; we're not sure how long yet, but at least 4 months.  (Once he is 12 months old, the treatment doesn't work very well.)  Tricare does not pay for this.  I will have to drive Tru to Tuscaloosa at least every 2 or 3 weeks for adjustments.

Because Tru is already almost 8 months old, Todd told us we will be lucky to correct his asymmetry 50%.  If I had been able to get the referral the first time I asked, we might have completely corrected it.

We think what caused this is a condition called torticollis - the muscle on the side of Tru's neck (sternocleidomastoid) was tight at birth and for many weeks following, so he wouldn't turn his head.  Children with plagiocephaly often (85% of the time) had this issue.  Also, because Tru got so big so fast, it was just more weight on his soft skull bones, causing them to flatten.

At first, I was very upset.  But, I have prayed and prayed.  God has given me peace, and He has provided for us financially so we can afford the treatment.  Now if He'll just teach Tru how to sleep on these long car trips, we'll be golden. :)  He really is handling the helmet well...not bothered by it at all (except for the occassional itchiness).

Todd putting the helmet on for the first time

Tru thinks this is a weird toy...

Just give me my bottle!

No problem. :)

Day 1!  Superman!

After a little craft paint, Truie is now the proud owner of his very own flight helmet...just like Daddy, Granddad, and Uncle Bub!

Solitary.

Just a man, his dog, and his thoughts.   And his SmartPhone.

Eight Months

Truie turned 8 months old last Monday!  He is a BIG boy. :)

What he's up to these days:

6 teeth
sporting his new flight helmet everywhere he goes
thinking really hard about crawling
eating lots of veggies and fruits and yogurt and cereal and formula and anything I put in front of him except juice
wearing anywhere from 9 month to 18-24 month clothes
taking lots of car trip to Tuscaloosa with Momma
plotting against Harley the Cat
showing signs of being ticklish
afternoon bouts of Dance Party USA with Momma and Daddy
sleeping on his face with his tush straight up in the air

Tush in the air.

I am a good lookin' man!

Yeah, I had a flu shot today.  But I'm SUCH a good boy. :)

CHEESE, Momma!

Daddy!  You crack me up!

How's this for the blog, Momma?

I love my Dosy!

Take that, Dosy.

Nice Dosy.

I like to rub my face all over soft things.

Are you still taking pictures?!

How's this? :)

Grrr....

See ya, Dosy.  It's bottle time.

We Love Shutterfly!

I have never been a big online-photo-service person.  Or, I wasn’t.  Until Truie was born, that is.  In fact, I think Little Buddy was still cooking when ol’ Julie started sending me Shutterfly links about their great products.  Just recently, I created some fabulous Christmas presents for the family that I cannot describe here…because they are Christmas presents…and presents are surprises, after all.  And my family better be reading my blog.  That's all I have to say about that.

I’ve been trying to decide if we should send out Christmas cards this year.  We’ve done them every year since I was a cadet.  But this year, well, I’m tired.  Then Julie told me about a promo Shutterfly is doing for their Christmas products.  Writing a blog about it = 50 free Christmas cards.  I may be tired, but I’m not that tired.  This would certainly make the card-sending super easy!

I took a look at all the Christmas cards Shutterfly has to offer.  There are about a jillion billion of them here.  My favorite part:  they even have religious cards.  Being a Christmas versus Holiday person, this pleases me.  It’s becoming more and more difficult to find good religious cards!  (In fact, last year, that drove me to creating my own jpeg…which should have been easier but wasn’t.)

I digress.  This one is my favorite card.  I like that we can put several pictures in there.  There is a reference to Christ right on the front where it should be, and I can add scripture inside if I so choose.  Fabulous!

I also love Shutterfly’s calenders.  I wanted to do them this year, but we decided to wait until next Christmas when we’ll have at least 12 months of Truie pics from which to choose.  No disillusionment here – I know no one is interested in our pre-Tru pics. J

Oh, and I just might need a picture ornament to commemorate Truett’s first Christmas. J

He gets it from his Rant Rabbie…

Truie loves the prunes.

 

Halloween

First, a picture of Truie’s first ride in the stroller big-boy style!  We’ve been going for long walks around the neighborhood.  After about the first 2 miles I am wishing for a jogging stroller.  Add that to my Christmas list!



Here are a couple shots of my new photography skills in action.  It’s called framing. :)




He LOVES his new basketball hoop toy.


And now, for Halloween!  Since Truie goes to bed between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., we knew we weren’t going to take him around the neighborhood.  I have vivid memories of doing that with Natalie for her first Halloween…stroller-less so as not to smush her bug wings.  Oh, my aching biceps.  I digress.

Sundays are especially tough for Tru since he misses morning nap because of church.  We wanted to take him to the church’s Fall Festival for a few minutes anyway.  We had to show off Cowboy Stinkypants!


Look how tired the poor boy already is.

But then he saw The Red Balloon.  And he had to have it. 

It made him a little hyper.


Cowboy Stinkypants trying to eat Red Balloon’s string.


Getting ready for dinner.  He wouldn’t let go of that Red Balloon for anything!


(Blurry, but still cute.)



Momma, Cowboy Stinkypants, and Red Balloon


Daddy, Cowboy Stinkypants, and Red Balloon

Tru's Halloween Video

We did, in fact, get the Skype going so Grammoo and Granddad could see the action.  Tru let out several squeals of delight. :)

Finger Foods

According to everything I’ve read, signs your baby is ready for finger foods include:  baby trying to hold his own spoon and feed himself, baby eyeing your food as you eat, etc. etc.  Well, since I’m pretty sure Tru was actually drooling over my sandwich the other day, and because he wrestles me for the spoon at every meal until there is splattered oatmeal/barley/rice cereal/whole wheat/mixed grain all over the walls, him, and me…I thought he might be ready.

Bananas seemed the logical placed to start.  He likes baby food bananas.  I thought he’d like squishing the banana pieces in his fingers, too.

I really thought he’d dive in and know just want to do.  And that he’d enjoy it!

Things didn’t go as planned, however, as seems to happen in all things baby-related.  Let’s just say we’re on a finger food hiatus.

 

Ooo!  This looks mushy!

 

Really, I could take it or leave it, though.

 

This is boring.  Where’s my food?

 

Momma?  Food?

 

Daddy?  Can we just eat now?

 

Please?

 

Okay, I’ll try anything once.

 

*cough*hack*cough*

Momma:  “Jason, I think he’s choking!  Scoop it out!”

Daddy:  “If he’s coughing, he can breathe.”

Momma:  “SCOOP IT OUT!”

Daddy:  “Fine.”

 

We’ll try again later. :)  Should I have given him something else first??

Mine.

Our computer modem sits haphazardly on the living room floor under one of the end tables.  This house just isn’t set up very well, and we’re not going to be here long enough to care enough to do anything about it.  So, there it sits.  It’s really an eyesore.  Except to the kids.

Now that Truie is semi-mobile and rolling everywhere, it is his goal in life to get under that table to the the blinking light on the modem.

It is Harley’s goal in life to prevent his getting there.

Har guards that modem like it’s her baby.  Just the other day, she was minding her own business elsewhere in the house until she noticed Truie was getting dangerously close to her toy.  She made a beeline for the modem and practically sat on it so Tru couldn’t get it.  Or see it, for that matter.

That’s actually the closest she has ever been to the baby as a result of her own actions.

Ah, sibling rivalry.