Goodbye Racecar Baby

A much-needed UPDATE on my angel Stella. We have said GOODBYE to her helmet!!! Yes, it is officially gone and her head is beautiful!! I stare at it all the time. I mean she really does have such a pretty head, probably because it was so bad before I just didn't realize what kind of "shaping up" the helmet would provide. Everytime Jared catches me staring at Stella he says, "look at that $2500 head". Gasp......I know, thank you Lord for health insurance. I don't really know how to explain the whole evaluation of losing the helmet but I will give it a shot if you care to read, this is just in a nutshell, and basically from MY perspective of how the helmet thing works. They measure the head by taking a scan of the entire head and then dividing it down the middle. How they get the measurement number is how many millimeters the right side of the head is off from the left side or vice versa. When we took her to her first head scan her measurement was 10.2 millimeter, meaning her right side of her head was off by 10.2 milimeters to the left side. Make sense? Probably not I am the worst explainer of things!! So if your are reading this and don't get it, its me not you. Anyway, her last head scan on December 31st showed that she was down to 7 millimeters!!!! I mean the best news in the whole wide world, considering a 6 and below is considered "normal" head range. So its still off 1 millimeter, but we had to toss the helmet because actually she outgrew it. We knew this would be a possibility with the helmet, they either get the head in the "normal" range or the child outgrows the helmet before time is up. Stella was suppose to have the helmet until her 1st birthday on January 29th but her growth rate was speedy so we knew the helmet would be off earlier than expected. Still extremely excited about the progress we made and can't believe its actually over. It seems like yesterday I was typing about getting the helmet. We will return at 18 months for another head scan just to see if there has been anymore improving on her own. So, goodbye "racecar baby", as one little boy called my daughter in a store. A funny reaction to seeing a baby in a helmet, I guess. The poor mom was devastated her son had pointed this out, but I couldn't quit laughing, because that was a true reaction from a child and again goes to prove you never know whats going to come out of their mouths.

Another story about the helmet, we were in Bass Pro Shop one day and I was, I guess you could call it rare form, just in an ill mood because it was severely crowded and I just felt everyone was staring at my baby and her accessory. Now almost the whole 2 1/2 months she wore it I didn't get offended at the stares or whispers but on this particular day I was just touchy. I thought okay the next person I catch staring at her I going to throw a punch, okay see, this is just horrible. But we turned down an aisle and noticed a father and son shopping. The father kept looking at Stella and I thought okay, you know what, I've had it. After a couple minutes he finally walked up to me and said "you have a beautiful daughter". I said a not so polite thanks, thinking he was just saying that to make up for all the staring he did. Then he said "I understand this", Jared and I were like "huh"?? He said, "my son here had to wear one for 2 years and it wasn't easy". I wanted to break down (I mean TWO YEARS!!!), I said "I know, and I just feel like everyone is staring at her today and its just upsetting". He said, "don't worry about them, look at my son, its worth it". I almost tackled him with a hug, I know God sent him to me that day. Just confirming once again we were doing the right thing for our baby, bringing the humbleness back, and knowing that God delivers. Always. Always.

Again, its sort-of shocking that the journey is over. I wasn't mentally prepared for it to be over a month early.

It was so short, it was sooooo hard the very first 2 weeks of having it, it was so rewarding spiritually, it was an extra step to my day that is now gone, it was humility as a parent, it was enjoyment seeing Sittre Paige giving kisses to Stella on the helmet like she could actually feel them, it was relief when Stella would fall and hit her head because it provided protection, its security knowing we did what we knew was right as parents, its fulfillment in my Savior for being with me every step, and last but not least, it was worth it.

Other than that, Stella turns ONE on January 29th, she is such a pleasure to us. A stress-free baby is a good way to describe her. She just goes with the flow, completely fine doing whatever we are doing. I am totally in love with her and her personality. A total opposite from her sister, don't get me wrong we love having Mrs. drama living with us, but Stella just brings a beautiful calmness into the family. Her ways are just so graceful, even as a baby. Now, I have been warned about a good baby.................they turn into bad toddlers. I am nervous, because SP was a, ummm, not so good baby but an awesome tot. So we shall see, fingers crossed.

Some of Stella's milestones (to us) at 11 months:

*walking, not perfect, and she gets nervous when she finally realizes she is doing it by herself. We have ordered Stella her first pair of shoes, squeakies, these shoes actually making a squeak every time she takes a step. Some find this highly annoying, I find these shoes hilarious and am actually excited about the noise.

*says mama, dada, and ho,ho,ho

*claps uncontrollably when we say "Yeah, Stella"

*waves her hand to "bye-bye" and we are pretty sure she also says "bye" with the wave, but its high-pitched and very fast

*has crawled up to at least the 5th step on our staircase with no assistance (I swear we are watching her)

*will lean forward with her mouth wide-open when she wants a kiss

*has eaten these table foods (all chopped in baby-fine pieces of course): chicken nuggets, cheese puffs, ritz crackers, vanilla wafers, green beans, carrots, banana, biscuit, spaghetti, toast, cheerios and rice. She loves "our" food. She still gets baby food and 4 bottles a day, but with her 8 teeth she can handle a lot of our food, and actually seems to enjoy just chewing.

*uses a sippy cup

*points her first finger and yells/talks to anyone looking

*lays her head down on a pillow when we say, "Stella go night-night"

wow, this makes me realize how great she is growing and how lucky I am to have a healthy baby. The one thing she is not doing.......will not, not, not, hold her own bottle..........simply refuses. Just has ZERO interest in feeding herself, wants to be held with her arms down by her side and if you even attempt to put her hands on the bottle she will curl up her fingers or simply slap the bottle out of your hand. Apparently she has decided to grow up at her own pace. She is lovely.

Lovely baby Stella, I guess if I could describe her in one word, it would be lovely. I always do that, try to think of one word to describe my kids at the current time. I don't know, I'm weird. (If you are wondering the one word to describe Sittre Paige right now, God love her, she's just like her mom.......................emotional.)