Cradle Cap vs. The Browns

Brian has a GREAT group of fraternity brothers!

We traveled to Kansas City this weekend for a wedding.  Lincoln did great in the car!  We were so nervous because he will usually scream the entire way to the grocery store (which is around the corner), to the zoo (about three miles away) and to Evanston (about 11 miles away).  So our expectations were low, but he far surpassed what we thought his limits were in the car!  Brian and I kept knocking on wood because Lincoln not only did great in the car - he slept almost the entire 11 hours each way!  We really made sure to respect his need to move and stopped three times each way to nurse him and let him stretch out and play.  Some stops were better than others - shady rest stop better than Kum and Go, Holiday Inn Express that we were not staying at better than the picnic table in the middle of a parking lot on a 68 degree day.  We were creative with our stops but really enjoyed our time outside of the car and together.  Brian and I knew it was a long trip, but we decided to make the most of it!

The first stop - Iowa City shopping mall.  It does get an "A" because it was the only bathroom with an actual changing table.

Stop after the Kum and Go gas station - this rest stop was awesome.  Great weather, fresh air and room for Linc to groove.

Like the dirty diaper in the lower right? :)

As for the wedding, we missed the ceremony (oops!  Apple maps could not find the barn for the life of us!), but it was an amazing wedding in terms of decor, food, and overall feel.  I feel like I am in Four Weddings right now!  Marissa did a great job with keeping with the country feel and added so many personal touches.  It was also a lot of fun to see Brian introduce Lincoln to his fraternity brothers.  They were all so sweet with Linc and Linc did his best to impress as well.  It was worth the almost 24 hours in the car so that Lincoln was able to meet some of Brian's best friends.

Brian's friends by the pool - Lincoln's onsie says "Future Delta Chi"

How I felt by the end of the night with an overtired 3 month old and spit up all over my silk dress.  Lincoln and I went home a little early, and Brian came a little later in the shuttle.

aftermath of Vaseline

Now... onto the battle of the cradle cap.  During one of our rest stops, Brian noticed Lincoln's scales, I mean scalp.  I have noticed his cradle cap (or I lovingly call cradle cRap) for a while, but it doesn't bother me.  It really bothered Brian, and he was really obsessed with how to get it off.  When we got to the hotel room, I did a quick Google search (damn you, Google!) and found that Vaseline left over night will help the scales lift and wash off in the morning.  So, Brian ran out to CVS and smeared the Vaseline all over the top of Linc's head.  He went to sleep, and in the morning I quietly freaked out.  Ok, I loudly freaked out because his head was very, very smooth but sooooo sticky.  I tired to run a comb through it and his hair came out in clumps!  Not that Lincoln has a lot of hair, but what he did have was falling out by the "finger"fulls.  After yet another Google, I discovered a whole slew of posts about toddlers who put Vaseline in their hair and how hard it was to get out.  People recommended Dawn dish soap as a saving grace.  So this time I ran out to Walmart in rural Missouri (and it lived up the picture I had in my brain of a Super Walmart in the middle of nowhere), and I found hypoallergenic Dawn because if I had to smear Dawn all over my child's head at least it was hypoallergenic.  This semi-worked, but Lincoln smelled like cleaning supplies and still had white scales that were now even more obvious because he had so little hair.  Not one of our finest parenting moments, but it is a funny story now!  And, Lincoln's hair will grow back, his scales will eventually disappear as he grows, and he is still a really cute little guy :)

Mom, it's okay!  I didn't have that much hair to begin with and I'm still a cute little stinker!

(Brian Here)

What Shelley is neglecting to mention is that after Lincoln woke up with a head full of vaseline and his hair being combed out, Shelley very accusingly asked me "how much vaseline did you put in?!?!" Like it was my idea and my fault for following her directions of smearing a thin layer of vaseline on his scalp. It was pretty funny and definitely something that makes us laugh now. 

Moral of the story: Lincoln is a champion! He didn't really fuss any of the 6-7 times we washed his hair, during the 21+ hours in the car, during the loud wedding reception, nor did he fuss when he was shuffled from stranger to stranger who wanted to hold him, and he didn't mind the chemical smell coming from his dome!  Way to go Lincoln! :)