This has been a big month for Hayes! We have had a lot of excitement and it has thrown us off our routine a bit.
He had his 9 month check up on September 16. He had a minor surgery scheduled for September 17, and at the beginning of the week, he started showing signs of a cold. Because we were worried that he would not be able to have the anesthesia, we started him on his inhaler and got him into the doctor early that week. We combined a follow-up to check his lungs, his 9 month appointment, and a little pre-op into one appointment. The doctor cleared him and we headed to Little Rock the following day.
The good news was that in the two weeks between getting his tubes and getting this little cold, Hayes gained a pound! When we went for his 9 month check-up, he weighed almost 16 pounds. This means that he actually got back on the growth charts, although he is still down around the 3rd percentile. The doctor gave us the go ahead to start table food and encouraged me to give him high-calorie foods to try and get his weight up; wouldn't it be nice if mama had the same weight issues as Hayes?!
Hayes has begun eating table food. He eats breakfast and lunch at school and then supper with us. His favorites are Yo Baby yogurt - banana and vanilla flavors, Kraft singles, mashed potatoes and gravy, avocado, carrots with brown sugar and butter, and anything that we are eating! He still eats baby food when it's convenient, and his favorite flavor is prunes. He can feed himself, and he has a pretty good pincer grip.
Hayes generally takes 5 ounce bottles every three hours. However, this month, he has been not taking his entire bottle. He goes through stages where for a few days he'll take his entire bottle very quickly and then for a couple of days he'll only take 2 or 3 ounces at a time. We are making his bottles a little more potent by mixing 1 1/2 scoops of formula for every 2 ounces of water. He can hold his own bottle. The funniest thing is when he spins his bottle as he is eating. For most of this month, he has still been nursing in the morning and at bedtime. At the end of the month, we dropped the morning feeding, and he transitioned really well.
Hayes generally sleeps through the night, from 8 pm until 5 am. Hayes does like to get up very early. I've learned that he will go back to sleep for a couple of hours if we put him in our bed when he wakes up so early. It's a habit I'm not crazy about, but I am okay with it for now, since it lets us all get a little more sleep. He usually goes to sleep very easily. If he doesn't, we just pull out our sleep training tactics, and it doesn't take long to get back on track.
Hayes is still not a great napper, and he is definitely not a consistent napper. He always takes one nap, and sometimes two. He usually does catnap in the car on the way to and from school. At school, his naps range from 30 minutes to an hour and half. There is no rhyme or reason to the timing or length of his naps.
Hayes is very vocal. His favorite sound is a monkey-like noise and he likes to blow raspberries. He "talks" a lot, usually "ma", "ba", and "da." He looks at you very seriously and very clearly thinks that he is telling you something important. I can't wait until he can really talk and see what all he has to say.
Hayes has learned what the word "no" means. He usually looks at me like "I'm so cute, how can you be telling me no?" and then goes on to do whatever I'm telling him not to do. We are afraid that he is going to be very naughty.
This month, Trent has had to be out of town a lot. One week, Mimi came and stayed with us, and the next, we went to Mimi and G-Pa's house. Hayes did not sleep well at their house! After, his little surgery, Hayes got to skip school for a week. He loved staying home with mama, and he definitely had a hard time adjusting back to school. Hayes got to stay at the Peabody the night before his surgery. It went much better than the last time we stayed in a hotel! Grandma also came to visit. We had so much fun with her!
Hayes's favorite toys are his books. He also likes the little yellow shapes that go with is shape-sorter.
Hayes got his first two teeth this month. He won't let you see them, but you can feel them.
Hayes has started having stranger anxiety. I took him to my office one day and he cried when the secretaries talked to him. Then our cousin Maddison came over to play with Hayes a couple of afternoons so that mama could work, and Hayes was not happy! We hope this ends soon!
