Bye-Bye Helmet

After a long 10 months and 3 different helmets, we finally got the okay to remove TJ's helmet! We never thought it would be so long (since the original estimate was 4-6 months) but after lots of long drives to Paramus, we are finally all done.

It was kind of bittersweet, too. Over the last 10 months I've had a lot of time to imagine how this day would go. I imagined that we would have the exit appointment set. I would put TJ to bed the night before and say "Tomorrow is a big day, buddy! You're such a big boy now, and you get to take your helmet off!" In the morning I would get him up saying "just a few more hours, bud!" We would go into Cranial Technologies and I'd take pictures as they removed the band...making sure I documented every minute. Then they'd give him a little certificate or something, and we'd be on our way!
Let me tell ya how it really happened:
One appointment in November we were told "about 6 more weeks". Great. Fast Forward to the end of December.
TJ was sick, so I missed one of my biweekly appointments (first one in 10 months!). Then with Christmas & New Years closings, we hadn't been to Cranial Tech in almost 4 weeks. TJ's helmet started seeming a little tighter than it should and he was sick again, so I called his therapist to ask her what to do. She called me back and said "we really should give him some more room in there. Can you at least bring me the helmet and I'll make some more space in there for him?" Just as I was thinking -- great, an hour and a half drive there and back -- I said "Sure, I can try. I know he's almost done...you said 6 more weeks about 6 weeks ago." She said "oh, really? Let me just look.....oh, Kelly! He's been wearing this helmet for 15 weeks already? Oh, it's probably not even doing anything more for him anymore. Just take it off today, and as soon as he's feeling better bring him in for the official exit appointment!" So I hung up, walked up to him and said "Well buddy, that's it! We can take your helmet off now!" and I removed it. I said "Yaaaay!" and took a picture. That was it! Oh yeah...then we had a snack.

Here's the pictures of the big moment:
Before:


After:


Of course, he immediately wanted to put it back on:


And after the Exit Appointment, here is just one of his official pictures. The top left picture is before any helmets. The top right picture is after the 1st helmet. The bottom left picture is after the 2nd helmet, and the bottom right picture is after the 3rd. Look at his beautiful head! Well worth it!