Strong and Steady

The kissy lips he's been making lately. Funny man.

Elijah's helmet is re-re-refitted now! Dan brought him back to the orthotist yesterday and got a little more shaved off from the inside of Helmy so hopefully no more fittings will be necessary in the next few weeks. So once again, we are weaning him into wearing it full-time. How long has this been going on? Oh yeah, two and a half weeks, that's right...  We hope to have him wearing it full-time again by this weekend. 
 
I know we sound very hostile towards Helmy, the poor guy, but we've definitely dealt with worse. Yes, Helmy is a bit of an annoyance and yes he smells like vinegar, B.O. and pickles, but when we stop and look at the big picture, we almost embrace that colorful little 8-oz. ball of plastic and foam. Eight months ago, we didn't even know if Elijah would survive the pregnancy. Once we saw his sweet face, we didn't know if he'd be capable of much, with all the strikes that were against him. Once he showed us that he was capable of almost everything any "normal" baby was capable of, we weren't sure how he'd do during and after that first surgery. He flew through that like a champ and now....now look at him! He's strong, he's chubby, he eats well, he's thriving, he's happy, he's smart, he's cute, he has an amazing little personality and he's just a little miracle man! This helmet thing is peanuts to him....and to us. He's our strong and steady man who isn't phased by a thing. We keep reminding ourselves that we are amazingly blessed and that this helmet hurdle is miniscule.
 
Elijah's heart cath is next week already! In fact, a week from today. Please say some prayers that it will go smoothly. I'm a bit nervous about it, based on our history with heart caths and the Short Stay Unit at Children's.
 
p.s. Elijah just yanked on my sleeve and told me he has something to write on his blog...??!?!? I didn't realize he knew how to type, much less form words or sentences, so I'll be curious to see what he thinks he's going to do. Hmmmm.