Babe Go Away

Hector had Santiago laughing and making lots of noises and every time I came close to film the action, Santi would stop when he saw me. So the title of the video is "Babe Go Away." Watch the video and you will understand why....

New Tricks

Last night we left Santiago at home with the grandparents and Hector took me to eat at Pappadeaux's for my birthday. We had a really nice time and ended up getting our appetizer and dessert for free because they served me a different fish than I ordered and then it took them a long time to correct it. We didn't mind but we liked the free food! Hector also found a pearl in his oysters. We couldn't believe it! We brought it home with us but we don't know what to do with it.

Today I went a little picture crazy. Here is Santiago doing his latest trick - he is pulling his legs up and kicking them in the air and rolling to his side a little. I took pictures in his pajamas this morning and this afternoon doing the same in his clothes.

I had to take Santi's helmet off this morning to put his shirt over his head so I took a quick picture without his helmet. His hair is growing back really well on the top from where Dr. T had to shave it. He still has a lot of hair growing to do on the sides. His forehead is looking great - it's getting more and more rounded each day.

Santi is learning to stuff his entire hand into his mouth. That's another one of his new tricks.

I read a lot of books to Santiago today. Three of the books were children's books that I had to read for an author study that I am working on for my multicultural literature class. The other books were his books and you can see one of them in this next picture with Santi. It's a book with babies in it and today Santiago loved talking to that baby picture. It was so cute to hear him cooing at another baby.

A Visit to Frank Elementary

Today my wonderful first grade team invited Santiago and me to school to celebrate my birthday. They ordered lunch from Jason's Deli and made birthday brownies for me. It was absolutely wonderful to go back to work for a few hours to see my awesome coworkers that I miss so much. I feel truly blessed to work at the school I work at - it is my second family. Santiago was held by a few teachers at school, admired by many teachers and Glory had him laughing out loud for a good while. It was precious!

I also spent about 30 minutes with my first grade students and got to see how much they have grown and how smart they have become while I have been gone. Kristine, the wonderful teacher teaching my class, has done such an amazing job with them and I am so thankful to have her there. The kids made me cards and they made Santiago four books so he can become as smart as they are. They made him an ABC book, a shape book, a sport number book and a fruit color book. So cute! Kristine had them laminated and she tied them with cute bows. I will treasure these books forever and always think of my sweet students and the wonderful teacher that made them for Santiago whenever I read them to him.

This is how Santi felt when we got home. He was starving so after eating, he fell fast asleep!

It's April 28th and I am 28!

Today is my birthday. Thank you mom for giving birth to me today. Now that I am a mom I truly understand this miracle and the feelings that go along with being a mom. I think on this day you (mom) should be celebrated for the hard work you endured having me 28 years ago and for all the love and support you have given me through the years. (you too Dad!) I love you! Thank you for everything!

I spent the day today taking Santiago to get his helmet checked and adjusted at Dynamics and at Dr. T's office making sure he approved of Santi's new helmet. Grandpa Hector and Grandma Linda came with us and it was nice to have them there to help. We had a ton of rain yesterday and today and Houston is flooded. Luckily we didn't have any trouble traveling to the medical center but we did see a lot of high water. I was thankful that we made it to the appointments and did not have to reschedule. Our second appointment was postponed 2 hours because Dr. T was stuck in surgery so we had to go hang out at Bianca's for a bit. When we got to the UT Medical Building, Dr. T was pleased with Santiago's helmet and we learned that we do not have to go back to see him for a month. He said we will have monthly checkups with him until the helmet comes off and then we will stretch the appointments out after that. We will continue to see him until Santi is 7 years old! I learned today that Santiago's bones in his skull will remain open for about 6 months after surgery so we will have to watch them carefully making sure they are growing and healing correctly. Dr. T met with Aaron from Dynamics yesterday and he stressed the importance of us coming in once a week to get the helmet adjusted. It seems that they have come to a better understanding of how Santi's helmet needs to fit in order to get the best results. I am thankful that they are working together! I asked Dr. T if Santiago will have to wear the new helmet for 2-3 months from now or if the time started 2 weeks ago when we got the first helmet. He laughed and said he can not say for sure when the helmet will come off. It will all depend on how Santiago's head is doing and he said that it is better to wear a helmet a little longer than taking it off too early. If it comes off too early, the head can regress. We don't want that to happen. The good news is that Santiago's head is already improving - Dr. T said he can see a difference from when we were there last Tuesday. So all in all we had two good appointments today. I am super excited to have a helmet that fits well! Aaron made a small adjustment on the helmet today because it was squishing Santiago's left eye a little and making him look like a pirate. He gave him a little more room around the eyes and it seems to be better now. We still have one more helmet to try but both Dr. T and Aaron think we will stay in the one we have now.

Hector was going to take me out to dinner for my birthday tonight but since we got home much later than expected from the doctor we just decided to order pizza and eat at home. We may go out tomorrow night instead. I had a good birthday today ~ thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Santiago says hi!

New Helmet

This morning Hector and I took Santiago to pick up his new helmet. It's clear and it seems to fit a lot better. We learned today that they have not seen many patients, Santi may be the first, that have had unicoronal craniosynostosis and have had the craniectomy procedure that Santiago had at a young age. They have fitted other babies that had sagittal synostosis and have fit many older babies for helmets but apparently Santi is one of the youngest babies and that may be the reason the first helmet was not made correctly the first time. Aaron, the orthotist, likes the style of this new helmet better than the first one and hopes my doctor will start using it for other patients in the future. I am hoping that we have no problems with this helmet. It is going to be a little hotter because it is made of plastic and there is no material in the inside to absorb the sweat like the other one. Santiago is going to have to build back up to 23 hours of wear time again with this new helmet. Today we are doing 4 hours at a time and 1 hour off.

My cutie pie is learning to lift up his legs in the air and has begun to look at his feet. He also is kicking a lot more so he is enjoying his bouncer seat. It changes the sounds it makes when he kicks and he is liking that. Santiago also likes to suck on his whole fist now that he discovered his hands.

Saturday at the Lake

Dad, Travis and I went fishing in the boat this morning. We caught 17 white bass in about an hour and half or two hours and 4 of them were big enough to keep. They made an excellent fried fish lunch!

Mom made me a birthday cake since my birthday is in a few days. It was YUMMY!

Uncle Travis had Santi laughing out loud!

Lake Pictures

First Trip to the Lakehouse

Santiago and I came to visit my parents at the lake yesterday. I made my first car trip with Santi (alone) yesterday morning. We left around 9:30 am and made it to Lake Buchanan about 2 pm. Santiago did really well in the car. We had to stop in Elgin for him to eat - I stopped at a McDonald's and fed him a bottle and also picked me up some lunch. Breastpumps are wonderful inventions! It made feeding on the road a lot easier just because Santiago can drink a bottle much faster than he can nurse. He slept most of the way in the car and when he was awake, he enjoyed listening to the music, admiring himself and smiling in the mirror, and looking at the toys I hung from his carseat. He did great in the car until we got to Bertram where he decided he had been in the carseat long enough and screamed all the way to Burnet which is only 11 miles away from Bertram. The lake house is only about 8 miles from Burnet. I stopped at the HEB in town to take him out of the car and hold him to calm him down and to let Roxie use the restroom. After a little fresh air, we loaded back in the car and drove to the house. I had called my parents when I got to HEB to see if they needed anything and tell them we were almost there so my dad decided to start walking to meet us. He made it pretty far up the windy road and started waving when we came around a corner. He hopped in the backseat and made Santi smile right away. Mom was waiting in the driveway for us as well. They were excited to see us! All we have done here is relax! We may be taking a boat ride in a while if Dad gets the boat ready. I will post pictures later!

The plan was for Santiago and I to stay here at the lake until Sunday but yesterday I got a call from Aaron, the orthotist (helmet guy) and he ordered two new helmets for Santiago and wants to get him in one of them right away. After our visits to the doctors on Tuesday, Hector and I noticed that the helmet was still not fitting correctly so I called Dr. T and Aaron on Wednesday morning. Grandpa Hector, Grandma Linda and I had to take Santiago back for more helmet adjustments Wednesday afternoon. They made more adjustments, but it still is not good so they decided that they have to make a new helmet altogether. It is very frustrating that this helmet was not fitted correctly the first time and that we have had to make so many trips to the Medical Center. We need the helmet to fit correctly in order to do the job its meant to do. So - Aaron the orthotist - pulled some strings and put an order in for a new helmet and they are rushing it to be completed. The plan was to pick up the new helmet on Monday or Tuesday next week so I decided to bring Santi to see his grandparents. Aaron said typically they do not get this good of a turnaround on helmets being made and delivered but since he is getting it here early, he wants to get it on Santiago as soon as possible. We are going on Sunday morning to get the new helmet. The second helmet will be here on Tuesday and he will decide which one Santiago needs to wear after we try both. Our time at the lake will be cut a little short because now we will have to leave on Saturday. We will be back Memorial Day weekend so that will be nice!

Santiago has been sleeping through the night this week and it has been wonderful! I was scared that coming to the lake and having to sleep in a playpen that he is not used to may throw off his routine but it hasn't. He slept from 9:30 pm until 7 am! I am loving getting a full night's rest!

Helmet Changes

Today was a LONG day. Santiago and I started the day by leaving the house with Grandma Linda and Grandpa Hector for lunch at Olive Garden where we had delicious soup and salad. Then we headed off to two doctor appointments - one with Dr. T for a post-op checkup and the other with Dynamic Orthotics for a helmet check. Dr. T wanted to see Santiago in his helmet to make sure it was fitted properly and he was not happy. I knew the helmet was a little loose because it slid around some on Santi's head when he moved and laid on it. Dr. T called the orthotist to tell him what he wanted changed and asked us to come back next Tuesday so he could make sure the helmet was right after changes were made. He said if they cannot fix the helmet, they would have to make us a new one - hopefully we don't have to do that. So we went to Dynamics and it took about two hours for them to make the helmet fit better. They had to add a piece to the back of the inside of the helmet, shave some of the inside of the front of the helmet off and shape the helmet around the ears better. Basically it needs to be tighter to apply pressure in all areas of the head except Santi's forehead on the right side. There needs to be room there for his forehead to be pushed out to make it more round and symmetrical. The orthotist was very impressed with the growth that has already happened since we were first scanned for our helmet 3 weeks ago. His head has rounded out a lot in the back and his forehead has also come out some. He scanned Santiago's head again so we were able to see the changes on the computer. It is very impressive that a baby's skull is so malleable and it can be shaped and fixed when there is problem. So even though our helmet wasn't fitted properly it has already made a difference! We are off to a good start! We will go back next Tuesday to see Dr. T to see if he is happy with the changes to the helmet and back to Dynamics for another helmet adjustment. We will be making frequent trips for helmet adjustments from here on out - every 1 to 2 weeks is the plan. We ended our long day by meeting Hector at Pappasito's for dinner. Then we finally headed home. We were gone from noon until 8:00 at night. Santiago was very tired - he ate his dinner and then went straight to sleep.

I forgot to mention that they weighed and measured Santiago today at Dr. T's office. Our boy now weighs 15 pounds 4 ounces and is 25 inches long!

23 hours

Santiago is now wearing the helmet for 23 hours a day. He is doing extremely well with it. He even smiled at me last night when I put it back on him after his hour break. For the next couple months, he will wear it for 23 hours a day and he will only have it off from 7:30 to 8:30 in the evening. That's when he gets his bath and his last feeding before heading to bed.

Last night was a special night. Santi slept the entire night! It was such a nice treat for me to get an entire nights rest - that is something I haven't had in a very long time. I hope he continues this!

Here is a short video of Santiago smiling and cooing! Enjoy!

Helmet Day 4

Santiago wore the helmet for 8 hours at a time today. After 8 hours went by, he got an hour break. He had to sleep in it and everything. He is doing great wearing the helmet! Tonight when I laid him down for the night in his bassinet, he was not yet asleep but very sleepy. I have never done that before and he surprised me...he smiled at me! I kissed him goodnight and walked out of the room. He didn't make a peep! He just fell asleep. WOW! He only wakes up once to eat around 3 am and the ngoers back to sleep until 7ish. We are finally getting on a pretty consistent routine and it's been very nice. Before surgery we were doing really well but having surgery through our whole routine out and we had to start over. I am glad he is doing so well!

Today was a very rainy and stormy day. The only thing we did today was go to lunch in Tomball at Goodson's Cafe. They have really good chicken fried steak and you all know that is my favorite! Today was out first outing with Santiago sporting the helmet and some people gave us some looks but it didn't bother us a bit. We expect it and we don't care what other people think. This helmet is going to makeour son even more beautiful than he already is and that is all that matters.

Look at these shirts that Hector made for Santiago to wear. They look great and they are so funny!

Helmet Day 3

I made a new discovery today that makes me happy! I have been trying to get Santiago to take his naps during the day in his bassinet, in my bed, in the playpen, swing....anywhere except my arms since he had surgery. Ever since his surgery I have had to hold him against my chest so he would sleep during the day. Today I found out he will stay asleep happily leaning on the boppy pillow. He took two naps on the boppy today and it was really nice to have my arms free for a few hours to do my grad school work and some laundry. It's also great that he will take a nap in his helmet with no problems.

Today is Day 3 of wearing the helmet and we had to increase his time to 4 hours on and 1 hour off. Also we added wearing the helmet during nap time. He is not yet required to sleep at night in the helmet - that starts tomorrow. Here's my cutie pie today...can you see his long beautiful eye lashes?

Just in case you are wondering about Santi's clothes today....Santiago has worn 3 outfits today because he has either peed or pooped on them and I have had to change him twice...and it's only 3 pm! Also, he is only two and half months old and he is wearing 6 month size clothing. He's growing so fast.

Helmet Day 2

Thank you Shannon for the cute onesie from Faith Baby. It looks so cute on Santi and it fit perfectly! It says "Mommy's Answered Prayers" and that is exactly what Santiago is. I love him dearly!! I had to take a picture of Santiago wearing it while he played on his jungle playmat. So cute!

Today was day 2 of helmet wearing and it went very well. As you can see in the picture, Santiago is doing his normal activities just fine wearing his helmet. Today's instructions for the helmet were to have the helmet on for 2 hours and then off for 1 hour and not to wear it while sleeping. With Santiago's routine, he wore it for 2 hours and then had it off for about 2 hours because it would be time to nap when the helmet came off. Tomorrow he will have to sleep with it on during naptimes so I hope that he continues to do well. I think he will.

Santiago has officially found his hands and he loves to stare at them. He holds his little fists in front of his face and smiles at them. Another thing that Santi started doing is trying to stand up by pushing up on my legs when I am holding him. He is really strong and LONG! I have a book called Peek a Boo and I managed to get a real laugh out of Santi when reading it to him. Hector has gotten him to laugh a couple times out loud too. It's really cute to hear him and see him get so excited!

Helmet Day 1

As you can see, Hector had longhorn stickers all ready to go for Santi's helmet. As soon as he came home from work yesterday, Hector put the horns on the helmet. We have a future longhorn on our hands. Hook 'Em!

We decided yesterday to start fresh this morning wearing the helmet instead of beginning day 1 yesterday afternoon. When Santiago woke up this morning, I put the helmet on him and fed him. Since today is Day 1 he has to wear the helmet every other hour when he is awake. He is not supposed to nap or sleep through the night with the helmet on today. The reason for the slow transition is that it allows Santiago to get used to wearing the helmet. It's going to be hot so his body has to learn how to cool itself in a different way. Usually the head is a main source for heat to escape through the body so they said his body will redirect the heat eventually. Also, the slow transition will allow us to see if the helmet is rubbing his head too much in any area. We don't want him to get any sores on his head so we have to inspect for red spots when we remove the helmet. So far so good.

We have a pretty good routine usually of eating, being awake and sleeping. We beging by eating which takes about 45-60 minutes from start to finish because I am breastfeeding, then Santiago is awake for about an hour after eating before he gets fussy and ready for a nap. During his waketime, we play on his playmat, have tummy time, swing, read books, sing songs, go for a walk, etc.

Today has gone pretty well. He does not seem to mind the helmet. He has cried a little when I put it on him and I don't blame him because it is a little difficult for me to hold him in a good position where I can easily put it on. This is only because he is so young and does not have complete control of his head yet and cannot sit up by himself. Luckily we only have a few days of me having to take the helmet off and on because in 5 days time he will have to wear the helmet for 23 hours. It will only come off at bath time. Today each time I take the helmet off his hair is all sweaty so I know he is hot. He is wearing only a onesie today with no pants or socks on. When it is time to sleep, I cover him up and put his socks on so his feet aren't cold. Hector may get his wish of keeping the house colder like we used to. We used to keep it pretty cold before Santi was here but we have raised the temp since he arrived. Santiago and I are usually confortable with the temperature in the house but poor Hector is always burning up.

Santi's Starband Helmet

Today we went to pick up Santiago's helmet. Wearing this Starband helmet is a very important part of fixing the craniosynostosis. Dr. T says that the helmet is just as important as the surgery. So today we are beginning the second part of our journey. Tomorrow will be three weeks since surgery and Santi has been healing nicely. He still has stitches in both incisions on his head but they are the dissolvable kind so I am hoping that they will dissappear soon. He has lost a couple already and I am looking forward to the scabs to go away along with the stitches so the outside of Santi's head will finish healing. This helmet will help his skull heal and help shape his head nicely. The plan is to wear the helmet for 2-3 months for 23 hours a day. We have 5 days to build up to the 23 hours. Day 1 consists of wearing the helmet every other hour when he is awake. He does not wear it sleeping for naps or night on the first day.

In the following pictures you can see our first helmet fitting. They put the helmet on Santiago to see how it fits and he had to write on it with a marker in the areas that had to be shaved off in order for the helmet to fit Santi's head correctly. The helmet will apply pressure on the left side of Santiago's head forcing the bones to grow toward the extra space on the right side of his helmet. So it fits a little tighter on the left side than the right. The hole on the top of the helmet allows ventilation as well as extra space where his head needs to round out. The coronal craniosynostosis was on the right side of his head and that is the side that needs shaping. It is truly a miracle that they have found an effective way to fix this problem. I am very thankful for the God-given talents of the doctors!

Here are the two wonderful people who take Santiago and me to our doctor appointments in the medical center. We love Grandma Linda and Grandpa Hector. It nice to have the company and extra arms and ears at our doctor visits. Thanks for all you do for us!

Happy Easter!

A Little Variety of Stuff

These are Santiago's footprints that we put on a canvas shortly after he was born because our hospital forgot to do his footprints for us. We were pretty disappointed that was missed out on that so we decided to capture his tiny foot memory like this. I just recently finished our masterpiece by writing his name and birth statistics with a paint pen on the canvas. We are going to hang this on a wall in the nursery. The weather has been pretty nice lately so we have enjoyed sitting on the front porch a lot. Santiago loves to be outside - as you can see it relaxes him!

Aunt Bianca's boyfriend, Matt, gave this robe to Santi. Hector says that Santiago is "Little Hef" in this robe.

2 Month Check Up

Today I took Santiago to the doctor for his two month checkup. He had to get 4 vaccinations - 3 shots and 1 oral. Let me tell you...my boy can scream! He did not like the shots one bit but luckily the screaming didn't last long. As soon as I picked him up to love on him, he stopped crying and quickly fell asleep. Thank goodness! Santiago now weighs 13 pounds 10 ounces and is 24.5 inches long. He is in the 90% for both length and weight. I told you we have a big boy!!

The pediatrician was pleased with the how Santi is looking. The first thing she said was "Wow look at the symmetry in his eyes!" Before surgery he was a little asymmetrical but he is looking better every day. His incisions are healing nicely too and the stitches are almost all gone. I can't believe it has been two whole weeks since surgery. I am glad to have it behind us!

Santiago is such a happy baby and we are very blessed! He is cooing a lot these days and loves to kick and wiggle around. He can hold up his head really well and he is getting real strong. He smiles a lot and is on the verge of laughing out loud. A couple times he has made this sound when he is smiling that sounds like "uhhhh uhhhh." I'm not sure if that's his laugh or not but it sure is funny! I laugh when he does it, then he smiles and grunts some more making me laugh harder. It's the domino effect! He probably thinks I am crazy.