On October 5th (a week ago, yes! and two days. Life is busy.), we celebrated Chet’s nine month birthday. No. I’m not quite sure how we got here, like always.
He is everywhere. Last month, he was just barely sitting. This month he is almost walking. He’s crawling (although he still prefers army crawling. It’s faster). He’s standing up. He’s falling down. He’s getting good at lowering himself from a standing position to sitting. He is clapping. He gives high-fives. He is dancing. He plays catch and loves to throw the ball. He loves dropping things to see where they go.
If I have learned one thing about Chet this month it is that he has no fear. None. He doesn’t think through the process. If he wants to get to his ball, he will crawl up and over whatever is in his way. The dog, a basket of toys, his brother, nothing gets in his way. If it requires standing and falling, he will do it. He pulls up on the couch, turns around, lets go, and throws his body in whatever direction he wants to go. He is determined. He even figured out how to crawl out of his jumparoo and onto the ground at my mom’s house. Crazy Monkey Baby!
Baby Stats: 14 lbs 13 oz. 27.25 inches.
Chet is tiny. He continues to fall off the growth chart with each appointment. He’s dropped in height too. He now falls into the 20th percentile for height and doesn’t exist on the chart for weight. Both the pediatrician, Christian and I are keeping our conversation open about his weight. The overall agreement is that he is just small. He is gaining weight just very very slowly. Our doctor (who we adore!) has encouraged me to continue with the night-time feedings (sigh of relief! yes! I was hoping I wouldn’t have to have a conversation why I don’t want to eliminate it just yet). She has encouraged us to let him eat as much real food as he wants. She has also encouraged us to incorporate oatmeal (our cereal of choice) into meals as much as possible because it is an easy way to add calories to his diet. We will continue to keep an eye on it (and monitoring diapers for any questionable signs of problems), but I really think we just have another munchkin on our hands.
Chet is also not a sleeper, at least not a good sleeper by text-book definitions. A normal night in our house consists of two wake ups. He is normally asleep by 8pm, nurses around midnight, nurses around 3, and then wakes up around 7:00. He naps in the car on the way to my mom’s house (sometimes). He naps once or twice for my mom. And he naps on the way home from my mom’s house. I’m sure there are millions of studies and books that would encourage me to let him cry it our or to wean him at nighttime, but I’m not comfortable with this option. It doesn’t feel right for my baby (and our pediatrician agrees). He is a great nurser at night-time. I know he is getting at least two solid nursing sessions. For a baby that is too busy to really nurse during the day, I’m glad we have a space in our day for him to receive all his nutrition. His nighttime nursing is efficient so I’m really only up for about 15 minutes. My nights of sleep consist of a few 2-3 hour blocks of sleep. I really feel like I’m functioning fine with this amount of sleep, so we are sticking with it for now. Bad nights of sleep (especially two in a row) have been known to create “I’m tired” tears in mom. Four or five feedings a night are exhausting when you haven’t really slept since last year. Luckily it doesn’t happen often.
Speaking of nursing, we are still hanging on. Really hanging on. I’m down to three bags of milk in the freezer. Eek! I’m still optimistic that I can make it to a year without introducing formula. I’ve got other mama’s milk as a back up just in case (thank you Heidi! thank you Lisa!). Chet is currently nursing when he wakes up, a bottle or two with my mom, nursing when we get home, and nursing before bed. And then nursing as he chooses during the night. The day time nursing sessions are short and normally only on one side. The rest of his day is filled with real food.
Food is hit or miss in our house right now. Some weeks Chet is super hungry. Other weeks he picks (and nurses more). He still loves almost everything we put in front of him. He is a huge fan of yogurt, cheese, and anything I’m trying to eat. Mangos are his favorite when added to oatmeal. Besides pureed fruits, he is eating all whole foods for all his meals. I even introduced him to beef stew the other night when we all had it for dinner. He loved the meat the most. He’s also had shredded chicken.
And finally…our biggest hurdle this month has been sickness. Poor Chetty had his first ear infection. amoxicillin didn’t do anything for him, so five days later we switched to Augmenten. This one seems to be working.
And that is enough for one month!
Did I mention he has no fear? Check out his nice black eye in the photos. He pulled up on a water jug trying to get to footrest in the play room. In his fearless leap, he crashed. And bonked his eye. I’m sure there are many more black eyes in his future.
Want to see how he has grown? Check out…
Don’t let the photos above fool you. He is such a happy baby! He just knows what he wants and when he wants it. Today he did not want his pictures to be taken! So he was entertained with my camera lens cap cover and a lego man 🙂
Kristy Maute 
When we were having some weight gain concerns, we introduced a spoonful of coconut oil each day, and that really helped my daughter pack on some weight. Might be worth checking out, although I’ve known plenty of babies who were simply slow to gain 🙂
EXCELLENT idea! We always have a jar in our pantry too! I think I’ll start cooking his veggies in it instead of steaming them. He’s craving more flavor and texture too so that will be an added bonus. Thank you! Thank you! I wouldn’t have thought of that on my own.
You’re welcome! My lactation consultant recommended it to me when Alma’s weight dipped around 6 months. We like to roast sweet potato and other veggies covered w/ coconut oil, and we spread it on waffles/toast/pancakes. It’s pretty versatile! She won’t take it by spoon anymore though, so I try to get creative 🙂