Little Straws: October 2011

Over the past month, I have tried a couple of different times to update the blog and I just couldn't. We have been a little perplexed with everything and the decisions we needed to make that I just wasn't sure how to update people. So, here, here, to my third try...

I am going to leave out a whole slew of details, but after much deliberation over the past month, phone calls and e-mails with the surgeons and a trial run of a molding helmet...Elliot will be wearing a molding helmet till December then his surgery is scheduled for early December and he will most likely have to continue wearing the helmet post-op as well.

At this point, little boy isn't quite used to the helmet, but we are working on getting it adjusted so that it is the best fit for him. Once it is fit properly, he will have to wear it 23 hours a day...we have been told babies get used to this pretty quick, and as much as it bothers the parents, it doesn't bother the kiddos as much.

Elliot's Hydrocephalus has kinda consumed us over the past month, but we have also had some fun. About a month ago, we went camping up near Long Draw Reservoir up Poudre Canyon. Its a campsite very close to Byron's research area, however we didn't venture that far. We went with our friends Chris and Ann and their kiddos and it was a lot of fun to be outdoors for a couple of nights. During this trip, Elliot started babbling a lot more. He loves leaves, especially when the wind blows them and he talks to them, its hysterical. He also has a new found obsession with Filson. Every time Filson walks in the room, Elliot coos and goos something to him and reaches for Filson to pet him.

Little boy is changing so much every day, he is starting to seem all grown up some days. He is eating more and more solids and its fun to experiment and see what he likes. But more solids also leads to stinky stinky poop! We miss those newborn poops! He is also recently just pulled himself from sitting on a little bench to standing up holding onto the couch. He stands with his buns in the air, but its fun to see him becoming more and more mobile...we know we know, once he starts moving he will never stop, but its fun to see him meet these milestones. Also, after much work, Elliot finally has his top left tooth and the top right is on its way...we can't wait for him to be back to his normal self.

Just this weekend we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park, to enjoy our beautiful weekend weather and take a nice hike and enjoy Fall. We were able to borrow Elliot's babysitters backpack and Elliot loved just being along for the ride and playing with daddy's hair. On Saturday we even made it to a pumpkin patch to get Elliot his first pumpkin. We are looking forward to this coming weekend where we are meeting up with some other Hydrocephalus families and getting the kiddos all dressed up in their Halloween get up.

Its been an eventful month, full of highs and lows, but we are hanging in there and just enjoying all of Elliot's new tricks! Get ready for a photo explosion...