Noelle's Adventures Part 2

I haven't been very good at blogging lately. Sorry about that. A little over a week ago we bought this little pool for Noelle. It's perfect for her size and because she is still learning to sit up on her own. (She is so close to perfecting it). She loves the water and loves to splash. It's been a really good thing because her helmet has to be on all day and this gives her a little extra break from it. Also because it has been so dang hot lately. This last Friday I came back from a mini camping trip with Noelle. My extended family has a huge reunion that we call Clayson Camp. It's a week long and usually we would go up the full week but Michael had to work so it would just be me with Noelle. So we decided to go up Wednesday and come back Friday. The first day was a little crazy. It was hot and Noelle was still getting used to her helmet. That night was okay and Noelle maybe slept 7 hours, keeping me up most of the night and my little sister who was sharing the tent with us. I was about ready to throw in the towel until we went to Payson Lake, a lake near where we camp. We put Noelle in it a little bit and she liked it but it was really cold. I got in the water and it felt so good. My aunt also gave me some medicine. Both of these things gave me a burst of energy and I was ready to stay another night. That night she slept so well. I kept waking up to check on her. My family helped me out SOOOO much and I'm so grateful to them. I'm glad I did it and we had fun but I don't think I am going to take a baby camping in a tent again without my husband.
This is Noelle's new pool. She was really tired this day but she loved the water and sticking these toys in her mouth.

Sticking the turtle in her mouth
She was doing such a good job sitting up.
The first dayof camp we went up to eat lunch and dinner and spend time with family. Michael and Noelle fell asleep in a chair. They were both totally out of it.
Me and Noelle Friday morning around the campfire. We bundled up Noelle because it gets cold at night and we were in a tent.
Aunt Nina and Noelle. Such a cute picture.
A bunch of us hiked down the road to a cave on the side of the mountain. It was a nice little walk. I didn't take Noelle in the cave. She loves her walks.
Grandpa Fullmer and Noelle. He is so good with her and makes her smile a lot.
Thanks Dad!

Our Little Football Player

Finally after a few issues with the insurance and the physical therapy center we were finally able to get Noelle's helmet. The first few days were kinda hard. We slowly had to get her used to wearing it. Finally by day 5 she had to wear it 23 hours on 1 hour off. During that hour we give her a bath and get her ready for bed. If she gets in the water at all she doesn't have to wear it. While the helmet is on we can't put any sunscreen any where near it. I guess it can eat away at the skin and is really bad. We haven't been going outside a ton because her face is already red from the sun and I don't want it to get worse. We even went camping with it on and, for the most part, it went pretty well. We try to take her outside when it's a little bit cooler so she doesn't get so hot. The helmet is about 8 to 10 ounces. She is getting used to it but just hates when we put it back on after having it off. She's been wearing it for about a week and a half and we know she will have to wear it for about another 4 weeks. We'll see her progress after that. I'm grateful for all this technology and for great doctors who have helped keep my baby girl healthy and strong. We have called her our little football player along with: our little boxer, snowboarder, and soldier.

Here it is. Those are thumbprint bunnies on her helmet. Doesn't she look like she has on one of those old football player's helmets on?

This is the side of her helmet and how we get it on and off her head.
The top has a big whole to give her head some air. Her hair comes right out of the top of it.
Playing on the floor. This was the first day with the helmet. She is so very cute with it on.
Some tummy time with the helmet. It's really going to make her neck strong. Except sometimes she head butts us with it on.
Happy girl. The helmet has actually saved us a cry or two as she has hit her head a few times. That I am grateful for.

Noelle's Adventures Part 1

Noelle is all done with physical therapy, even though we still have to do her exercises once or twice a day. We even got this paper that said "torticollis graduation," it was funny. She improved so well and was so happy during her sessions with the physical therapist.

tummy time on the mat of the physical therapy room

more tummy time

With Tera, her physical therapist, doing some exercises. We loved her, and she was so good with Noelle.

She loved the sparklers on the 4th of July. She really wanted to touch it.

I love her eyes in this one. She was fascinated with the sparklers and fireworks.

This is a video of Noelle bouncing in my parent's little activity center thing. She loves it and goes crazy in it sometimes.

The Move, 4th of July and Noelle Updates

I'm normally really good at updating our blog weekly but we've had a busy couple of weeks. After Noelle started to get back to normal Michael got sick with a cold and then when he was getting over it I got sick. Of course during this time we had to pack our entire apartment. Luckily one day my mom and sister came to help and that helped a lot. Friday, July 3rd, my parents, sister, brother, and sister-in-law came to help us pack up our moving truck and move. I'm so grateful for this because what could have taken ALL day took a few hours. Thank you so much guys. I owe you big time! We're living with my parents for a little while to save up some money. The 4th of July was pretty relaxing. We had pizza at my grandma's house and then afterwards we had fireworks on the road in front of her house. I love those 4th of Julys sometimes. Noelle was stubborn the whole day about taking a nap. When the fireworks went off she just stared at them and smiled. I love sparklers and when I showed her one she just stared at it and wanted to touch it (pictures to come). Noelle's first 4th of July was a fun one.

Noelle isn't very good about taking consistent or long naps. So I've been trying to get her on a schedule. I've realized that Noelle's body might not want to take 2 hour naps like other babies and that's okay. But I'm still going to keep trying. Whatever happens I know she is healthy and growing and I'm grateful for that. She sleeps great through the night but moves like crazy. We always wake up to find her head on the opposite side of the crib. She always sleeps on her tummy and very rarely will sleep on her side. We've started to put her to bed awake and suprisingly it has worked. She will only cry 10-20 minutes before she is asleep. We have a fan in our room and I think that really helps. Noelle is sitting up all on her own and only falls over sometimes :). She loves this activity, bouncy thing my parents have and goes crazy in it (I'll post a video soon). She is loving the fact that she can use her legs to bounce and move. When she is on her tummy she can slowly scoot herself around. I can tell she is close to crawling. She loves sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, applesauce, bananas, pears and peaches but doesn't seem to like anything green. Any advice? I just know she is teething because she is chewing and biting hard on EVERYTHING, but no teeth yet. We are getting her helmet in about a week. She is always smiling and just lights up any room she is in. She loves to be around people and loves the attention. She folds her arms, so cute. We are going to try camping in a tent for the first time with her next week with my dad's side of the family. This should be interesting considering Michael won't be able to come because of work. I would love some advice on this.?.? I always intend to write a quick and short update but it never turns out that way. Oh well. Noelle makes our lives so much fun and so interesting. She is constantly showing us what a bright, loving, sweet, stubborn girl she is. She is growing and changing right before our eyes. I am amazed and feel so much joy at how far she has come. We are always surprised by her and love her to pieces!!

Pictures to come soon.