The Long Road Home: 9 Months Old!

Mr. P is now 9 months. Okay, I think I may say this almost every time, but I really do think this is my favorite age. He's so personable, he is learning at what seems like an amazing rate, he is just awesome and I absolutely looove watching him bloom ever single day. So many changes!

He is now standing without any assistance and balancing himself all on his own. He is also beginning to push his walker. I have no real frame of reference, but I think he may be walking by the time his first birthday rolls around! I'm in no rush, though!

He also has gotten one of his central upper incisors and the second one is in the process of cutting through as I type. So this little dude is about to have four teeth!! Makes me sad. I really love the little baby gummy smile. :)

Mr. P will be ONE in less than 3 months, and Mamma is already planning. It's gotta be an epic party, so don't ya know I'm all over Pinterest pinning away, saving ideas! CANNOT WAIT!

Mr. P is also still wearing his helmet and we have seen great change in his head shape. I sure hope this means that we will be done with it by the time his first birthday rolls around. :)

In other news, after battling lots of symptoms that would not go away, I finally went to the doc and got some labs drawn and found out I'm very low in B12. I had suspected this may be the case, so I went in and specifically asked for my B12 to be checked and sure enough, it was pretty low. So my doc has put me on weekly B12 injections and I'm feeling much better. Man, who knew low B12 can cause so many neurological symptoms. The doc also heard some abnormal beats from my heart, so I was referred and got to wear a lovely heart monitor around for 2 days. The cardiologist said she was just being proactive ' just to make sure, as she doesn't suspect anything major'. She said very petite, young women are prone to certain arrhythmias that typically never cause any issue. She said it's often because anything we do or consume will have a greater impact on how our hearts' beat because of our small size. It sure was fun to nurse P with all those wires and leads hanging from my body. He was desperate to rip those babies right off! So I had to get creative to save the life of the device. But we all made it through alive. :) Still waiting on results.

I have also launched a breastfeeding support group in our area of the metroplex. There are tons and tons of moms with young kids in our part of the metroplex and many are attempting and do breastfeed. I know some of the challenges of breastfeeding, and in my journey, I found there is really no support to help a newly breastfeeding mom going through tough times other than locating a lactation consultant, setting up an appointment, waiting, and paying at least $100. But often your so on edge, you need help now! So unless one has a lot of breastfeeding friends, the only place to gather information is from online boards, which can yield highly variable information. I tried a breastfeeding support group at a local hospital once, and I didn't like that it was a drive from the house, it was in a cold conference room, and it was so large that I couldn't really connect with the other women. So I have created a group that will act as an active Q and A online board for quick opinions from others, as well as a group that can meet up weekly in someone's home, nurse together, hang out, talk about struggles, triumphs and so on...to connect and know that someone has or is going through the same thing you are. Sometimes that's all you need to help get you over the hump, just to know you're not alone. Feeling supported goes a long way in breastfeeding, and I really hope to encourage women who might have otherwise given up on nursing.

We are still working on getting our house in order, although we are making good progress. I had no idea how much stuff we have. Not even junk, just stuff! Oh my goodness. We made good progress this weekend. Hopefully after another few weekends we will be done!! please!! It's my new year's wish!

Baby Butt Alert! This is why we had to finally transition to a bigger bathtub. The man escapes! I have never seen someone move so much in a bathtub. He turns into ADD baby gone wild!