Cranial Technologies

On Wednesday we went back to Cranial Technologies to reevaluate Callie's head shape.  For those of you that are new to reading the blog, or have forgotten, I'll give some history . . .

When Callie was about three months old we noticed she had some flattening on one side of her head.  We talked to the pediatrician and she suggested repositioning.  We tried what we could, but it didn't seem to get better.  By the time we saw the pediatrician again Callie's head shape had not improved so she recommended that we visit with the people at Cranial Technologies.  CT is a company that makes a corrective band called a Doc Band to essentially remold the head back into a more correct shape.  It's a sort of helmet/band that needs to be worn 23 hours a day for multiple months.  

Callie was five months old when we had her head measured and a Doc Band was recommended and we were ready to start treatment.  The only bad thing was that it was two weeks until we left to go to Japan and starting treatment at that point was out of the option.

So, we are back to Wednesday.  We went back to CT, and although Callie has had some slight improvement they are still recommending treatment.  Usually treatment starts around four to five months of age, but older babies are still very treatable.  The only thing that's different is that treatment will last longer to get the same results.  So Callie will most likely have the Doc Band on for most of the off season.

We go back in two weeks to get the Doc Band and then we will see how it goes.  I'm sad that Callie will have to wear this helmet/band thing for so long, but it will be good for her.  The severity of her flattening can lead to possible vision, hearing and/or jaw problems so we are doing the treatment to prevent this, not just so her head will look more round.

I'm sure she will get some interesting looks while we are out and about, but I'm not too worried about it.  A lot of the parents decorate their kids' helmets.  When we were in the office on Wednesday there was a little girl with a Doc Band that was painted pink and said "I Love Romo" (that's Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys' quarterback).  So I am sure I will have fun with personalizing Callie's band.

I'll add some links to the right side of the blog so if you want some more info you can check it out.  The CT website has some great before and after pictures so it is worth checking out.  

So we will enjoy our next two weeks Doc Band free.  Hopefully Callie will still be able to wear bows with the band :)

Callie and I have been having some fun the last couple of days.  We made a second trip to Target :), gone on numerous walks, played in the backyard, and today we went to Red Robin for lunch!!  

And good news, I found the camera so here are some pictures . . .

eating bubbles!!

bubble mustache :)

It's kind of hard to tell, but Callie is drinking out of a straw!!  She figured it out on Wednesday night and loves it!

playing in the backyard with Ozzie

not so sure about the grass :)

What jet lag????

Our little Callie is quite the resilient girl.  We have been home for a week and for the last three nights she has been sleeping through the night again.  Last night she didn't make a sound until 7am this morning, so I also got a great night's sleep.  What's even better is that I went upstairs to give her a pacifier and she has gone back to sleep for another 1 1/2 hours.  She has definitely made the transition home well.  She seems to enjoy sleeping in her room (yeah) and really likes her new more roomy car seat.

We are off to visit with the Atchison family today.  I'm sure Callie will love playing with her two three year old cousins and new five month old cousin, and of course Great Grandma and every one else :)

I have some new pictures to post, but have somehow misplaced the camera.  So once I find it I'll put up some new pictures. 

Best Friends!

Callie and our dog Ozzie are quickly becoming best friends.  They always need to know where the other one is.  Ozzie even helps me wake Callie up in the morning by giving her a little lick between the slats of her crib :)  Here are some pictures from the last couple of days . . .

My favorite things

Well, it didn't take me long to indulge in some of my favorite things at home once we got back from Japan.  We got home at about 6pm and once we were a little settled in Scott's parents went to pick up some dinner.  There is a great fast food Mexican restaurant called Rosa's that Scott and I both love.  I'm sure Callie will love it too since I went about once a week during the last couple of months of my pregnancy :)  

mmmmm, chicken enchiladas

yummy chips and queso

And I didn't waste anytime going to Target either.  All the girlfriends I met in Japan asked me what the first thing I was going to do at home, and my answer was go to Target!  We went Sunday morning and it was like I was returning to the mothership!  Callie had a great time riding in the shopping cart too.  I think she will also become a big Target fan :)

helping me pay at the register

Home again!

Okay, I am finally rested enough that I don't need to take a nap this afternoon while Callie is napping, I can blog instead . . .

Our flight from Osaka, Japan to Detroit, MI was definitely an adventure.  Callie did really great during the first part of the flight.  She even fell asleep right as the plane started to taxi, but that only lasted about 30 minutes.  She had a ton of fun playing on the floor in front of our seats.  We had the bulk head row and had about five feet of room before the wall.  Callie also enjoyed all the attention to received from the flight attendants and also flirted with all the business men that were on board too :)

playing on the airplane

She only slept for about one hour during the eleven hour flight, which was very tiring for both of us.  Once we got to Detroit we had a three hour layover so my family that lives near the airport came and we hung out at baggage claim.  Callie did suprisingly well, especially since it was like 2am Japan time.  She even let my crazy aunts push her around in a wheelchair :)

at the Detroit airport

We have been slowly getting used to our new time zone.  Last night Callie slept pretty well.  I was able to get more than four hours of sleep, so that was good!

We will be busy the next couple of weeks with a few doctors appointments and visiting with family and friends.  We are happy to be home!

We made it!

Well, we made it, we are home safe and sound in Texas.  The flights were interesting (more about that later) and Callie is now sleeping in her crib in her own room for the first time at home.  Hopefully she can get a full night's sleep :)

Texas here we come!

Callie and I will be leaving Japan tomorrow afternoon to head home to Texas.  I am excited to be headed home, but sad to leave Scott here.  He will have to stay until the end of the baseball season, and since his team is currently in first place we don't know how long that will be since they will most likely make the playoffs.  

I've had a great last week in Japan . . .  Scott had an off day on Monday and we went to the Bird and Flower Park again.  He was excited to be able to go with Callie and see how much she loves all the birds.  He also fed the toucan birds and was much more brave than I was :)  I also had coffee with a group of women that I have met here in Japan and it was great to be able to visit with everyone before I left.  They also had a Sayonara lunch today for me and another gal that is leaving (we are actually on the same flight tomorrow).  

The first couple of months I was here it was hard to meet new people because I was so focused on Callie and getting us both adjusted to life in Japan.  But eventually I branched out and started meeting people :)  I was amazed at how many great women I met while here in Japan, most of them are not even baseball families.  They are other Americans here while their husbands are working in Japan.  It was great to be able to bond with other women in the same situation as me and I will miss them very much.  Hopefully we will be back next season and we will all get to be together again :)

All in all we had a good time in Japan, but I am excited to be home!  I'll try to post again once we get home to let everyone know that we arrived safely.

Lost in translation

So in Japan translation from Japanese to English can be kind of tricky.  Menus can be pretty funny and the train schedules always say Horiday instead of Holiday.  We ran into one of the funnier English mistakes while we were in Yokohama.  We stayed in a Sheraton hotel and it was very nice.  Most of the staff spoke English and all the signs in the hotel were in both languages.  Well, there was a dinosaur display set up to advertise a nearby museum and we walked by it everyday and I couldn't help but laugh each time . . .

Yokohama

We got back from our road trip to Yokohama on Friday and we had a great time.  We stayed four nights, and even though it was a little bit hectic, it was still a lot of fun.  I was glad we were able to go, it was nice to spend some extra time with Scott before Callie and I leave to go back home to Texas.

We took the Shinkansen, Japan's high speed bullet train, and it was really nice.  I'm not sure how fast it goes, but it got us to Yokohama, which is right outside of Tokyo, in about 2 1/2 hours.  The seats were very comfortable and Callie really seemed to enjoy the ride.  She loved looking out the window.  I'm not sure if it was because we actually went through areas that were green and had trees, as opposed to the concrete jungle that we live in here in Osaka, or if she just thought it was cool to watch everything fly by.  

Our hotel room was pretty nice, I was scared it was going to be so small that we could barely move :)  It wasn't too small, but it did have two twin beds in it!  We don't have a pack'n'play here in Japan, so we used the hotel crib.  It was nice, but would not have passed any US safety standards!  The housekeeping staff did make it up nice though.  There was a little pillow and a cute comforter in it.  We didn't use any of the things that were placed in the crib . . .  I even brought our own crib sheet and the last day we had our room cleaned the maid took the sheet! (she must have thought it belonged to the hotel).  It was a little crazy trying to keep Callie entertained in the small room, but we managed.  She enjoyed rolling around on the bed and taking her bath in an actual bath tub!  She even managed to get the bathroom floor pretty wet with all her splashing!

Here are some pictures from our room.  The first one is of the view from our window.  The hotel was across the street from a very busy train station, and the line of taxis waiting for people was always huge!

All in all it was a great trip, but if we go on any more road trips we will definitely be getting a suite!  It's much nicer when Callie can sleep in her own room :)