Helmet head...

Bentley has a condition called Brachycephaly with Plagiocephaly; otherwise known as a condition characterized by an asymmetrical distortion (flattening of one side) of the skull.  His pediatrician isn't certain WHY his head is the shape it is but his guess is that Bentley's other condition, Infantile Scoliosis, is a factor to the problem. 

After weeks of casting and sizing him, Bentley finally got his helmet! (it was custom made just for him- we've been into to see the specialist who sizes him for it practically every week SINCE he's gotten it to make some adjustments to the helmet so it doesn't fall over his eyes or get too tight in some places on his head).  

Bentley doesn't mind wearing the helmet; he has to wear it 23 hours out of the day, every day of the week for the next 3 or 4 months or until his head reaches the desired shape we want (the whole purpose of the helmet really is cosmetic; I couldn't stand the idea of letting him grow up to look like Sloth from The Goonies).  His head gets REALLY  hot while he's wearing the helmet, so the specialist drilled a lot of holes in the back of the helmet for ventilation; he also occasionally wears a little sweat head band to keep from sweating TOO much.  Really the only time he doesn't wear his helmet is when we're bathing him.  We have to wash his helmet out then too; it REALLY gets stinky.

The specialist who fit Bentley for his helmet told us that a lot of parents like to paint their childrens helmets or put stickers on them.  I thought stickers might look too tacky, especially when he's dressed up in his Sunday best, so I refuse to decorate the helmet with stickers... we've been thinking of ways to paint his helmet... perhaps we'll paint it to look like a skateboarding helmet OR a B.Y.U. Cougar football helmet!... hmmm... we have time to decide.

As for now, I decided the best way to have him wear his helmet is with a wig on it.  Bentley's real hair has been growing in so nicely (it's a beautiful light golden blond), but no one can see it thanks to the helmet!  He needed a quick fix; something that really catches peoples attention, something other than his boring plastic helmet, and that's when I thought of wigs!

Below are just a few options we found...

Punk rock pink.

Going green.

He REALLY liked the green.

 I liked this look.  

The wig matches his real hair color.

But then I thought maybe the braids were a bit too much.

He is a boy and I'd hate to have people think HE is a SHE. 

So....

I liked the whole Viking look and decided to just stick with the horns... 

until,

I saw this!...

The golden crown!!!

Everyone should be king for a day!

Funny side note: The first few days that Bentley wore the helmet, his older brothers liked to knock on it.  Poor kid; if he doesn't already have a complex from just wearing the helmet, he WILL surely have one if his brothers continue to tap on his helmet with drumsticks!