9 Months

What used to be our timid, easy going little monkey butt has suddenly morphed into a vocal, squirmy, yet still just as much adorable as ever little 9 month old. If you leave the room (or even step more than 10 feet away) without his permission, he lets out a cry as if the house is on fire and the world as he knows it is coming to an unbearable end. He's just shy of learning to crawl and will get up on his hands and knees and rock (all the while laughing) until he suddenly face plants into the carpet. I filmed him learning to scoot one day about a week and a half ago...and a week later he totally had it mastered and does the army crawl scoot pretty much anywhere you lay him down. He scoots so much now that he's stretched out the neck of a lot of his shirts, dragging his belly across the ground and many times has rendered himself pant-less as he leaves them behind along his journey.

Just last night, after putting him to bed, he was crying a little more than usual, so after 10 minutes or so, I went in...only to find that he'd pulled himself up to his feet with both hands on top of the side rail and had no idea how to get back down. I think this realization scared him so much that it took half an hour to calm him down and let him realize that it's still OK to get back in the crib to get some sleep.

His new found mobility is so exciting, but it's also made him a tad clingier than usual. If you sit next to him to play, he'll use you as a climbing gym over and over again until you get the idea that maybe you shouldn't sit so close!

Teaching him to feed himself has been a riot! I'm pretty sure that I mentioned somewhere earlier that he holds his own bottles...but needs to be on the floor to do so because he hasn't figured out how to tip the bottle to get the liquid. Well, we've now been putting crackers or other small items on his tray. In most cases he'll slap them with his slobbery hands and stare at the piece of food stuck to his palm, in total bewilderment. Then, with his other hand, he'll investigate said food with his tiny little pointer finger until it falls back to the tray...and then it starts all over again! Or, he'll just lean forward and lick the food off the tray. The concept of grabbing the food and bringing it to his mouth apparently has not been discovered yet.

I took Wyatt to the chiropractor the other day as a last pleading measure before I begged that he see a specialist. The subject of "Wyatt's Pooper" is so common now, I'm sure you won't be phased :)

Well...a couple of weeks ago, this is how each and every pooping experience was turning out...

I guess it's just beyond my understanding how any doctor could say that THIS is normal. I mean, each time he'd push, he'd just shriek in pain and it's obvious why! He couldn't get them any further than here. He was at max stretching capacity for his size and I'd have to pretty much push his little bum cheeks together and "pop it like a zit" to help him out! The odd part about it was that we hadn't done anything to change his diet when this happened. He'd been on baby food for months and was getting plenty of formula. We were giving him prune juice on a regular basis and it was taking more and more just to get any results.

The chiropractor mentioned that his son went through some of the same problems. He showed me some stuff to help get things moving and recommended changing his food to homemade baby food instead. We also took him off of formula and put him on rice milk. Can I say NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE!!? No more black and hard little turd balls! Now, it's pretty much the same color and consistence as the food that went in!! Yeah, I'm totally taking a moment to do my happy dance! You have no idea how long we've been battling this issue!! Granted, it's only been about a little over a week that he's been regular...but I don't care! I'm gonna stay positive!! :c)

So, last weekend...we went hog wild making loads and loads of baby food. Another added bonus, no more chasing Wyatt's face around during feedings! The kid has his mouth open and ready for every bite! I can't blame him...have you tasted the baby food you buy in the grocery stores??? It's bitter, bland and hard to make yourself swallow! Now it's sweet, flavorful and there's way more to choose from!

Each morning starts off with some fresh juiced apple juice mixed with some magnesium to help keep water in his intestines. Then he eats some butternut squash, sweet peas, yams, blueberry/apple sauce, banana/orange/kiwi/spinach smoothie, carrots, etc. and a bottle of rice milk each feeding thereafter. He's doing great! He's napping better, and looks as though he has way more energy during the days. I hope this becomes the norm!