Our Boxer Boy: A Tale of Two Ears

When Flint first arrived, he had these adorably delicate butterfly ears, that were so soft and floppy they looked like they were opening like flower petals in the morning, or unfolding like butterfly wings. And they did open, but not quite as beautifully or as fully as one might expect. Then again he's not a flower. Or a butterfly. But we didn't think much of it. I just figured they would fix themselves in a matter of time as he grew and his cartilage hardened.

At our first appointment with the pediatrician, she made a small (playful) fuss about his ears to implicate they would not actually fix themselves and we should consider "molding" them. He was actually missing the third fold that makes the ear flatter against the head. I took this topic home to discuss with the dad-man, who agreed and somehow knew something like this was going to come up. We did some research and concluded it would be best to give the molding a "go" for now and see where it gets us, rather than wait and poor Flint possibly have to undergo cosmetic surgery in the future...

Friday was Flint's follow-up appointment, and the doctor attached the molds to his sweet little ears, a process not so enjoyable for him or his Mama, though it seemed to be painless. Babies definitely don't like to be forced to hold still, however, and I'm fairly certain all the prodding was uncomfortable. She shaved the hair from around his ears and cleaned them up before sticking a plastic frame around them - literally sticking with adhesive. Once the frame was in place, several other silicon-coated components were placed in his ear to get it in the correct shape, then some kind of soft, breathable soft was fastened overtop to hold everything in place.

And now, our son looks like a wrestler (or boxer?)...

I can honestly say, I hate these molds and wish we didn't have to do them, but it's for the best. He will wear them for 6 weeks, having them changed every 2 weeks until then. The doc says 8 out of 10 cases have "excellent results." So here's hoping that Flint will be one of those eight. He doesn't seem to mind them, thank goodness.

In other news, Flint hit the one-month mark yesterday. Check out his Watch Me Grow album to see how much he's already changed. The pediatrician was pleased with his weight gain - already 12 lbs and the size of a 2-month old! Aside from his physical growth, we are seeing a lot more awake time from our boy, with lots more eye contact. He's even tried cooing a few times - the sweetest sound of all time! He's been a really easy-going guy, though he does not enjoy tummy-time so much. He's responding well to his big sister's constant kissing and smothering, making some improvements with nursing (my boobs really appreciate it!), and enjoying as much "vertical" time as he can get. He has even taken to sleeping up to 6 hours at night for me, provided Daddy swaddles him up really tight and snuggly-warm.

Lyla is adjusting slowly, but surely. She definitely loves her brother and hasn't shown any signs of jealousy, though she is struggling to behave off and on and we're seeing lots of tantrums. Who knows if that's 2-year-old related or big-sister related? Maybe a bit of both. I welcome any tips on getting wildly independent 2-year-old girls to listen and mind. :)

We can't believe it's already been a month - so much has changed!