Protecting that Huge Noggin Ain't Easy

J-Dub is a thrill-seeker.  He loves to be hung upside down, twirled around, go really high in his swing, pop wheelies in his stroller...basically anything "scary".  So, with that in mind, at some point we decided that he would like riding in a seat on one of our bikes.  So, we purchased a seat at Academy, ordered a helmet online, and put this plan in motion.  This weekend, we finally got around to installing the seat on the bike.  I aired up the bike tires (which makes it obvious how often we ride them) and we were ready to go, right?  Wrong.  There was the little detail of the helmet.

There was no problem with the helmet itself.  Despite his gargantuan noggin, the helmet fits just fine.  The problem is that, in order for the helmet to serve its intended purpose, it must be secured to Jacob's head.  This is where the plan went off track.  You would have thought that the helmet was made of pure battery acid, and that even the slightest contact with his head would set forth some sort of pain that he might never recover from.  And the chin strap?  Fugettaboutit.  This too must have been burning him horribly.  At that point, we were pretty certain that this bike ride wasn't happening.  We wrestled with him for ten minutes trying to get him to leave the helmet on.  Nothing was working.  Until...he discovered that the chin strap could be put in his mouth.  That was the turning point.  If he's got something in his mouth, he's happy.  Never mind that I'm pretty sure that the helmet does him absolutely no good for protecting his head when the part that secures it to him is in his mouth...that's not the point.  It got him to leave the helmet alone long enough for us to start riding, which he thoroughly enjoyed.  And, at least from a distance, it appeared that we were protecting our child from head injury, which would keep any nosy neighbors from calling Child Protective Services.

Last night, we decided that Jacob should have his first ice cream cone.  Since Nancy planned on giving him a bath soon, it was the perfect time to turn him loose with one.  Here is the result:

A few more pictures:

That helmet looks secure, right?