Mat's Casting

Mateo had his casting done today for his Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty, or DOC, band. He did really well! They start with putting a stocking net over his whole head, cut out a hole for the mouth, and then mark the eyebrows and ears with a pencil. Then while he was still on his back, they began to layer the plaster strips over the front part of his head. He drank from a bottle during this part (I had timed it well so he'd be hungry) and did quite well.

After this front part set after a few minutes, he had to sit up so they could start layering plaster on the back. This didn't go as well. The pacifier helped for a while, but I'm sure he thought the chirping monkey I held in his face was mocking him! Rafi did a great job at holding his shoulders down. (I, on the other hand, did a great job taking photos!) The plaster was quite heavy, so I think he was most uncomfortable just due to the weight on his head.

After this set, they took off the two halves of plaster, and voila - a happy baby!! Okay, so he was a bit worn out, but he has always calmed down fairly quickly. So into the bath he went, off the plaster bits came, and a fresh baby got to go home. (We'll be back to the orthotist next Tuesday for the fitting of the band, so stay tuned!)

Just an hour later we packed back into the car and went to our first Mother Goose Lapsit at the library. We read a book with two other little girls, sang some songs (he HATED "I'm a Little Teapot"), and played with some toys. Then we went with his friend Amelie (and my friend Renee, the librarian at my school) to Barnes and Noble to look for some bilingual books.

After a day of excitement, we went home and took a much needed nap. :-)