9 month checkup

Here are ramon's latest measurements. Our doctor also offered us the
h1n1 vaccine so Ramon got his first dose today.

Input Output

I just got around to posting some video of Ramon eating from September. He enjoys his spoon in the first half and then some very messy blackberries in his teething net in the second. Our neighbor saw us in the park after the second eating episode and said Ramon looked very tough....like he had been roaming the park eating squirrels :).



We go to the Inwood Farmer's Market almost every Saturday for fresh fruits and veggies for Ramon to taste. We steam and puree them. He loves kale so we get lots and lots of kale. This video shows that Ramon cannot always wait for us to unpack and steam the veggies...he is a very hungry boy :).



When it is time for the food to come out the other end we sing a fun song to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad"
I've been pooping in my diaper all the livelong day!
I've been pooping in my diaper just to pass the time away!
Can't you hear the poopie coming...pppppppppppppphtppppppht (fart noises).
Can't you hear the poopie coming...pppppppppppppphtppppppht (fart noises).

Poopie won't you come...poopie won't you come....poopie won't you come today!
Poopie won't you come...poopie won't you come....poopie won't you come today!

After a verse or so yesterday at the poopie diaper changing table, Ramon looked up at me over the Gumby he was gnawing, smiled and said, "Poop!" then giggled.

Since Ramon has been eating solid foods his poo has also gotten more solid. I guess as the input changed so did the output. This week he had especially solid and painful poo. After some research I discovered we had been feeding a few too many of the foods that are recommended for stopping up diarrhea. The BRAT diet is Banana, Rice, Apple Sauce and Toast....that's what kids with diarrhea should eat. If you feed bananas, puffed rice cereal and apple sauce a few feedings in a row then poo gets very, very solid and he eats so much that it is also very large. He was so upset and I was so impressed at the size that, yes, I took photos and if you are interested (Elijah) you can click here to see them. My index finger is in the photos for reference on size :).

chomp

I was trying to figure out why Grandma was worried that Ramon would chew on his crib. Well, he hasn't been doing it lately, but when he first learned to stand in the crib he did:).

Childproofing

Ramon's favorite toys are not toys. This week he is crawling for real. Before I could say he was oozing like a slug leaving a trail of drool wherever he went. Now he is full on moving. He has discovered the living room book shelf and the joys of crashing piles of DVDs. His favorite is Chi Running (when Ray found this out...he said "Of course it is! He knows!"). All the DVDs that have made it to the floor have chew marks on the corners from the 8 teeth that munch and crunch. His other favorite toys are Daddy's shoes (Ray's response, "Gross!"....then he actually put his shoes away!?!?). He discovered the wall behind his play area a few days ago. There's this really cool hour in the evening when he really just wants to be left alone to play with his toys. So I have taken to wandering around and picking things up around the apartment. I was putting clothes away in the bedroom when I began to hear a rhythmic thudding on the other side of the wall. So I meandered in to investigate. What did I see but Ramon facing the wall....both hands firmly planted leaning forward and trying to eat the wall...thud...leaning back to grin at the wall and chatter and then leaning in to try to eat it....thud....repeat a few times while Mommy tried not to pee her pants and decide if she should be concerned and interrupt this conversation :). He did have a red mark on his forehead when he finished the game but he seems otherwise undamaged. The next day he repeated this investigation while I spotted him in a stand :).

There are molars coming in so the drool faucet is on for real. I broke down and bought him the $20 piece of French rubber I swore I would not buy. Sophie the giraffe is a really cool piece of squeaky rubber. Ramon chatters at her and makes her squeak and she reaches the molars because she has long giraffe legs. Ruta got really jealous though because of the squeaker. So we had to give him the rubber chicken with the Mom tattoo that we stole from the Kai, Tucker and Mia. That rubber chicken has worn Ruta out but after 24 hours has lost all his stuffing and the squeaker and is really only half a chicken....reminding us why we stopped giving poor Ruta toys.

Crawling was preceded by a lot of downward dogs while he tried to get to his feet instead of his knees. He has settled for his knees for now but continues to pull himself up. I lowered the crib two weeks ago when I watched him push himself up to a sit and then go for the rails. Last night we had to go in to resettle him 3 times as he pushed himself up to a sit and got stuck there...crying meekly but still sleeping. He hasn't slept all the way through the night since he was 3 months old. He is back to 2 night wakings most nights but screamed for 3 hours on Monday night we think because his first molar was pushing through....but then he also really crawled for the first time the next day so who knows, really?

Ramon has started waving at people. He especially likes the ladies at the grocery store and the guys at the deli. He grins and jumps and waves.

He has been saying Da Da and Daddy pretty clearly in the morning when he wants to play and go for a walk with the doggies and at night when daddy comes home. This morning he looked over at Ruta and shouted Doggie and bounced and danced while pointing at him! He says Ma Ma or Mommy less clearly and mostly when he wants milk or is sleepy and wants a nap.

So the title of this post is childproofing because that's what I'm thinking about doing this weekend. Ummmm..does Ray picking up his shoes count as childproofing?

Stupid garbage truck outside is causing honking and beeping and now Ramon has woken from his nap....grrrrr.

Sibling Rivalry

The dogs are pretty sure the alphabet play area is totally theirs

you talking to me

This photo is a lot of fun. As the teeth come in, the drool and sometimes teeth grinding goes up. The facial expression however, is classic, 'are you talking to me'.

6 month checkup

Ramon had his six month checkup and shots today, seemed to go okay. Ramon is at 20 lbs 29 inches, eight teeth and drolling a lot;). A little surprising that the doc is recommending the h1n1 flu vaccine next month, seems fast to go from FDA approval to implementation.