Bentley's Helmet

It happened...Bentley got banded! As of last Wednesday, he now wears a DOC band 23 hours a day to correct the flatness on the back of his head. His head has actually rounded out quite a bit on its own over the past couple of months, but it still wasn't normal so we decided to go ahead and take care of it now while he can't remember anything. Since the flatness is relatively moderate we hope that he won't have to wear it for too long (they estimate about 2 months).

It looks so uncomfortable and I was worried that he was going to have a hard time adjusting, but from the moment we put it on him he hasn't even seemed to notice that it's there. Honestly, I think that it has been harder for me than it has been for him. It definitely changes his look and I can no longer give him kisses all over his head. I have also learned the hard way that innocent cuddling (aka head butting) can easily leave you with a split slip. I am now perfecting the art of the "dodge".

This is Bentley getting ready to take 3D images of his head. These images are then used to make his band (thank goodness technology has advanced and we didn't have to get a mold of his head). They put this silly mesh mask over his head for the images and I couldn't stop laughing at him. He looked like a little bank robber in training.

The band only comes in white, but this makes it look so "medical" for me so we quickly got to work painting his helmet this weekend. I picked out the paint and decals, but John did all of the hard work. He is such a perfectionist that I knew he would do a better job than I would. Three layers of acrylic paint and five layers of mod podge later...here are the before and after shots:

Admiring his work

John did an awesome job, and I think the band looks so much better now. Good think Bentley is cute enough to pull off the helmet look! Do you think that all of our attempts at brainwashing Bentley into going to BYU will work?