First I want to talk about the ECing - what an adventure this has been. I AM that crazy mom that is sticking to this, but the rewards are phenomenal! I am here to tell you at 9 months old, my son is in the beginning stages of being potty trained. It is the most incredible thing I have ever seen. My "moment of truth" happened the day before he turned 8 months. Now first I must mention, I guess you probably could not consider me a "full time ECer" considering the fact that I don't usually keep up on taking Wes potty when we are out and about... its pretty much a big hassle and to be honest, I'm too embarrassed to do it in a public restroom! Don't ask me why in the heck I care what other people think, but I do :) and, at night, we don't even bother! That being said, given the amount of time I do actually put into this, we are doing pretty stinking good! Ok, back to the story... so Wes and I were doing some Christmas shopping. We had run around to a couple places that morning, coffee with Aunty June and around Cornelius, back to the trailer for some lunch and a nap, then to Freddy's off Cornelius Pass. So, we had been in the same diaper since about 10:30 (which was only the 1st diaper we changed after his first morning loaded one from the night before). It was around 2:15 when I got to Fred Meyer. Now I love Freddy's for the fact that they have their "family restroom". This means I could take the whole cart and everything in the bathroom and have the whole thing to myself, yay! (the only thing they are missing is a chair for nursing moms!) I tried to take Wes potty, wasn't having it, and only wanted to nurse.... so luckily we were in the bathroom, I didn't need to go back out to my car... nursed him quick and right after he went potty. We tuttled around the store, bought some Christmas present (one being his FAVORITE car toy he wouldn't let go of! He literally lunged out of the cart to keep hanging on to it!) We checked out and went back to the potty before we left. I was AMAZED to find a dry diaper. Not only that, but when I took him after checking out, he went. And went, and went and went. Now, on a normal potty, we get one good solid push and maybe a 2nd and thats about it. Both potty's at Freddy's were 4 BIG pushes. I was so impressed and on the way home I had to check my receipt to see what time we checked out, 4:00... 1 hr and 45 minutes of a dry diaper, with 4 big pushes when we went. This to me can ONLY mean one thing.... He HELD it! Yes indeed he did. I cannot even begin to describe my amazement when I put this all together in my head! Now, on occasion if he doesn't drink a lot or doesn't nurse thru the day regularly I have noticed longer times between potty's, which is normal. This day however we had continued nursing throughout the day as normal, he had water to drink with lunch and was well hydrated. Totally amazed! Now, unfortunately Christmas rolled around, our whole world and routine got flipped upside down and I noticed a huge difference in Wes's behavior. Not only was he not sleeping as well through the night (no wonder, we only went to 18 different places for the Holidays and slept in different places almost every night - no schedule to naps, eating times, or anything) but I also noticed he was starting to fight me on going potty. He still is fighting Jake at time's but not me so much anymore. He would also go to the bathroom in his diaper RIGHT after we would try to take to him. Now I have heard from other ECing moms that right around 9 months some of their kids revert back to going in their diaper... I don't know if this is just a "9 month" thing or if it has to do with lack of routine, but since Christmas is over and we are back on somewhat of a normal schedule, I have seen a vast improvement in the amount of potty's we catch. We definitely catch more potty's in the toilet then in a diaper, so that's success in my book!
Wes's first Christmas will definitely be remembered. Within a matter of about 2 weeks, he got to see all of his grandparents all his Aunts and Uncles, and ALL his cousins! We spent a night in Oakland with Grandma Vicky and Reuben, ornament exchange at Aunt Lauries, Christmas Eve with Grandpa Milo and Grandma Joy, Christmas Eve night with G-ma and G-pa and then Christmas Day at Uncle Beau and Aunt Vanessa's with Nana. He was spoiled rotten of course, made out with all his new toys and clothes. His favorite to date are the tools that Grandma Vicky got, he doesn't let go of his hammer or screw driver!
At Wes's 9 month checkup he weighed 18 lbs and was 28" long. For the amount of food that this boy eats I was surprised he's only in the 10th percentile for weight. I know he's still just a little guy, just now moving into 6 month clothes... but boy howdy this boy can EAT... and eat and eat eat. It is not uncommon for him to eat a 6 oz jar of 3rd stage meals and 3 4oz jars of veggies...thats a POUND of food! To put into another perspective, for breakfast he can eat a whole scrambled egg, a banana and a piece of toast. He has such a huge appetite. Probably from all the calories he burns because this kid does not stop moving, ever. His feet or hands are constantly moving, and he does not sit still.
Wes's vocabulary is growing, slowly... He still says mama, more often just "mom", dada and hi. He can wave at you, but most of the time he waits until you are gone to wave... I'm the lucky one that see's it :)
The day after his 7th month he started crawling, and within a week of crawling he was pulling himself up on furniture and climbing up stairs. He quickly learned to walk by holding on to furniture. In the last month or so he has started sleeping through the night. I am no longer nursing at night... it was rough at first, we had to go through a few nights of long screaming fits... but it didn't even last a week and since he has slept through the night wonderfully! Now, he is beginning to get braver and braver about standing on his own. He does it without thinking, lets go of what he is holding on too, but then gets scared and sits down. He has stood for about 10 seconds before he realizes it.
We have found a few allergic reactions along this new food venture... it seems he is allergic to berries. Our doctor is skeptical, saying berries are really "low" on the allergy list, however every time he has had any sort of berry, he breaks out with rough patches on his cheeks. We've also noticed it when he is out the in cold his cheeks get red and a little patchy, but mainly when he has berries. He also had an allergic reaction to a push pop from g-ma. After devouring it, literally scarfing it down, his whole upper lip swelled up and he looked like a duck. It only lasted 24 hours and we saw Dr. Gardner the very next day, but luckily that was the only reaction he had. I am personally thinking it was something to do with the cardboard, whether it was the glue, or the coloring... something like that I think. Other then that no other allergies have popped up and he likes pretty much everything! (banana's are still a major favorite).
We've been home since October, the last job being in Stanley Idaho. When we got home, we had some more work done on the trailer (black tank... AGAIN!) For all the things to break on a trailer, has to be the stinkiest!!! We bounced around from dad and joy's, stayed with Aunt Joanie for a few weeks helping her recover from a full knee replacement surgery and then back into the trailer which we parked at Sherry's house. We parted ways last week and are stationed back in NW Indiana while Jake finishes up the job at the Thornton Quarry just south of Chicago. We should be here for about 5 weeks, weather depending. The first weekend we were here, we got about 8 inches of snow... and that was only the beginning of their winter here. I can only hope it stays nice and dry like it has most of the winter here, but most of their snowfall happens in January and February. So we are bracing for a very cold, snowy winter around here!
