9 Months!

I can't believe it has been 9 months since the most amazing Monkeyman came into my life!  I love him more everyday! 
It is so much fun to watch his personality really start to come out.  He is a go go go kind of boy.  Loves to smile and laugh and does a super cute squinty eye giggle that melts my heart.
He made it up one stair on his own a few times which is scary!  Not ready for that! He is starting to walk holding onto his toys and furniture- without and with the shoes on! With the shoes on scares me as I worry that he is going to roll his ankle or break an ankle.  I do find he has a bit harder time trying to figure out how to get away from a toy he is standing at when he has the shoes on.  Sometimes I have to rescue him but most the time he can figure it out eventually.  Also might be because he is tired since his shoes go on just before bed.

I think he has a sensitivity to watermelon- he only had it twice.  The first time he ate ALOT and his back went really red and had some rash on his face by his mouth.  The next time he only had a few pieces and he ended up with red where the juice went down his chin and a little bit of a rash.  I am going to eat it by myself and try again in a month or so to see if he still reacts.  It is too bad since he loved it!

Here are some pictures of the little man- I appologize for the number of them- I honestly did narrow it down :)

                                                                Handsome monkey

                                                              Thumb up chillin

                 
                                                          Squinty face :)

                                                              Drool

                                                               Smiley

                                                              Silly

                                                           Goof

                                            

                                                             So sweet

                                                             Gonna eat the puppy

                                                

       
                                                                Wow look up there

                                          
                                                  Does this make my ears stick out?

                                                                  Playing with his bar

                                                       Happy dude

a few videos with shoes on

Thought I would post a few videos of monkeyman on the move with his shoes on.  As you can see they don't slow him down at all although being a bit tired did make it a bit difficult to get a few little videos.

Back to night/naps

I thought I had made this post before but turns out I didn't so thought I would do it now.  Last Friday Monkeyman started pulling up on everything again! He woke up and stood up in his crib for the first time and didn't stop all day so hesitantly I took him out of the shoes more. Remember back in January we got the go ahead from his doctor but then after a week I put him back in as it looked like the right foot was turning in a bit and he wasn't pulling himself up as he was too busy figuring out the other things he wanted to learn. The problem with being in them and pulling up is the rounded bottom makes it unsteady and also I have noticed his circulation gets cut off to his feet and legs turn purple when he is sitting on his knees which is the main position he can get himself back up to sitting with them on. By Saturday we went down to night and naps again as he is standing a lot which holds his feet in the correct position. I watch for regression but so far both feet are looking great! I am glad we put him back in when I noticed it and he wasn't standing as much. I think he needed the extra month! I have to make sure he is in the shoes before he gets too tired or he will fight me when I try and put them on but they are just a Part of our going to bed routine and he does fairly well most the time. He can make it difficult some times as he really loves doing sit ups now  whenever I attempt to change him and am not fast enough (which in his mind I should be done in about half a second).  He likes to go go go and that being still thing just isn't for him.  I think he figured out I can stop him from rolling and getting away but it is harder to stop him from doing a sit up as I don't want to pin him down!  Smart little guy he is.

Another photoshoot

I had an idea in the middle of the night last night for something I wanted to try with Monkeyman but wasn't sure how it would go over now that he does not like sitting still!  I wanted to use his walls as a backdrop for some pictures.  He did amazing and I got some decent pics of the little man :)

The rest of the morning he spent chasing his puppy and exploring!  He is all go go go now.  Which means I spend my time chasing him :)

Playing strange

Well today we went to the grade 1 class we visit for Roots of Empathy.  And Monkey man played strange really for the first time.  He has been shy before but he was really clingy there and needed us close by.  I think it was just overwhelming for him since it has been over a month since we were last there and that many kids surrounding you can be a scary thing for anyone especially when they are so much bigger than you and watching your every move :)  He still had fun though and showed the kids his new teeth and crawling skills. 

We got home and pulled in the driveway and could see flowers and a gift bag between our screen door and regular door.  Was very nice to come home to that :)  No indication who it is from although I may have a guess but have been known to be way off before.  Monkey loves his new book and blankie if you happen to be reading this. 

He is now sound asleep in bed although that took awhile since the dog started barking just as he was about to go to sleep.  I think I might go read and make supper instead of excercising today since I am taking today off other than walks as the pup tried to take me out at the dog park last night and my knee is bugging me today so giving it a little break before I get back to it tomorrow. 

Teething sucks

It's official teething really sucks!  Monkey man has 5 and is getting 3 more and is miserable today.  Whining non stop and very clingy.  Don't get me wrong I am loving the extra snuggles since he is normally a "let me down to go play" kind of kid and not as snugly as he was before he became so mobile but I feel so bad for him that he seems so uncomfortable before the things pop through.  At least we are 5 down and only 15 left to go lol  This morning I tried hylands teething gel, vanilla extract but those did nothing so we went with tempra which helped a bit at least.

I started putting Monkey man's shoes that I bought him for Christmas on his when he is out of the boots/bar to see if that will help his toes clear up as they were bright red/purple yesterday and skinned.  The duo-derm wasn't helping it seemed to be making it worse almost as there was so much moisture trapped under it for so long, airing it out barefoot didn't help either so I thought maybe it is from him crawling and the toes rubbing on the floor plus being in the boots/bar and added pressure on those toes the way he likes to sit on his knees and with crawling and pulling up.  Anyways this morning they look SO much better so I think we will continue putting him in shoes instead of going barefoot.

Well it's time for this Momma to work out while the baby naps.  I have been trying to do at least an hour during the day and then walks on top of that.  If only I could stay away from the chocolate.

Mover!

Well for a week or so my monkey man has been full on crawling. Seeing babies crawl online with the shoes/ bar On is one thing but seeing your baby do it is totally different. He amazes me! He is pulling himself up more, doing sit ups when we change him because he really doesn't like laying still, putting himself in sit on his own (although not staying sitting for long before he goes again), he likes To attempt going uP and down the stairs with and without his shoes on! He can get himself where he Wants to go which is so nice that he isn't getting as frustrated anymore with me not being able to figure out what he wants to play with. Watching him play with his puppy is great. He steals the dog's toys as they are much more fun than his own it seems!

It was great today seeing Monkey man play with his cousins as he is starting to become more interactive :)

He is wearing his shoes less now because he is pulling himself up on everything again so standing more often which puts his feet in the correct position.  I do still have them in the shoes probably 18-20 hours a day still just until he is wanting to stand even more.  His big toes are getting worse now with the crawling and the added pressure that puts on them against the shoes so once he is pulling up more he will go down to just naps and hopefully that will help them