Peanut Piñata! Olé!

We thought it would be a good idea for Peanut's 1st birthday party to make a piñata in the shape of her head. What do you think?

Just Kidding! While I hope that they eventually let us keep this cast, it's intention was not to be filled with goodies and smacked with a bat. Instead, Charlotte was casted last week for a helmut that she will have to wear for possibly 3-4 months. As a result of being on her back so much in the NICU, and then add the whole "Back to Sleep" SIDS campaign, you have yourself a case of a slightly misshapen head. We had noticed awhile ago that the back of her head was growing in a slightly off-center, oblong way, but I figured that eventually her hair would just cover everything and she'd be fine. But just in case, I took her to a place where they specialize in these helmuts because I don't want her coming back to me at 16 screaming, "If you had just gotten the helmut then now I wouldn't look like this [slam]!!". Turns out that it's not just the back of her head that's affected, but her facial features as well. So, we didn't hesitate to sign on the dotted line and looks like next week Peanut will have a helmut that she has to wear 23 hours a day for at least 3 months. The total length of time will depend on how quickly she grows. The faster she grows, the less time with the helmut. Basically the helmut stops growth in some areas, while allowing for the other areas to catch up. So, there you have it .... hearing aids and a helmut. Wish me luck. Thank god the eye doctor said she doesn't need glasses!!

But don't worry about Peanut, while she didn't particularly enjoy having the cast made, she was fine once they took it off. I asked the doctor at the place how the babies are with the helmuts and he said, "Oh, they don't like it for about 10 minutes and then they're fine". Yeah, cuz then they go HOME WITHOUT YOU!

Speaking of Peanut's 1st birthday (I mentioned it in the beginning), we're going to be having an open house celebration of how far Charlotte's come in the last year on October 21st from 2-6pm (put in your calendar "free food"). I've sent out an evite to some people, but if I didn't have your email address or you live out of town then I want you to know that you're welcome to stop by, too! This is an open house and everyone is welcome to stop by, eat, drink and be merry! And if you do decide to come over then please no gifts. However, we will be accepting donations (books, CDs, preemie clothes) to bring to the NICU at the hospital where Charlotte was born.

Here are some random tidbits of what's been going on around here lately:

• Brian and Charlotte starting taking swim classes together. Charlotte didn't exactly like the first two sessions (i.e. she cried the whole time), but by the third one she actually got dipped under the water and tried to catch a rubber ducky. We do not accept quitters on this team (especially after mom's paid for it)!


• I'm hanging on by a string in my Chemistry class. The scariest part is that people are actually come up to ME asking questions in our lab section. Either I've perfected the art of looking like I know what is going on, or the intelligence level in my class is REALLY LOW. I'm leaning towards it's a combination of both. I have my first test next week. Eek!


• Charlotte's OT (Occupational Therapy) sessions have been really neat. She started in July and the OT is focusing on the senses in the order that they develop in utero. So the first thing we've been working on is the vestibular sense (motion). Lots of spinning and swinging. The way her OT described the therapy is that since Charlotte missed out on so much time in the womb, we have to go back and make sure that everything that would normally develop in utero is okay now. Charlotte's been loving the spinning and swinging, so we've been having a great time with it!


• We found out Peanut's final results from the ABR in August. Her right ear has a moderate hearing loss and the left ear is mild-to-moderate. Basically, according to her DTH, she's at the lowest level that the state will allow for treatment. I think that's great news!

***Final note***VERY IMPORTANT!!! Davy Jones is playing in Hinsdale on Fri, Sept. 28th for only $5. Will anyone please go with me??!!