Nueve

“Da da da da da da da da dada da da…” Hunter repeated from his crib. His affinity for his first words quickly separated my husband and me. I was a little bitten, but I will get over it. Shane, of course, walks around the house repeating Hunter, “dadadada, “ laughing absurdly ecstatic like he just won the gold medal table tennis match. “Did you hear him? He said dada?” His chest wide, he paraded the living room with Hunter on his shoulders, “say it again Hunter boy, dadadada.” They both in sync, “dadadadadada,” I sat amazed at how such a small feat made me feel like I was sitting on top of the heavens.

Hunter is nine months today. Yes, our little runt is babbling like a maniac. He is sitting up and playing with his toys. Sure, he sometimes teeters over, but so do I. He is pulling himself up from the crib and scaring the shit out of me. Our crib setting has been dropped to the very bottom, yet Hunter seems focused on making the big escape from his crib by pulling himself up. He gets that from my side of the family. Diaper changing has become a difficult task as he is always trying to roll one over on me. So changing him after a good healthy poo takes a lot of agile and wit. I strategize by taking his attention to a new toy or a book while I attempt to quickly change his filthies. This morning he flipped on me so fast that he almost made a head dive off the changing table. By the way, the safety straps are useless at this point.

Mister Crawling McCrawler, isn't official, but he pulls himself forward with his arms. He's fast! He’ll get up on all fours wobble to and fro than flop back down on his stomach. Repeat. Let's just say that I can no longer leave him alone unless he is fenced in.


Dr. Treece says that he is “failing to thrive,” referring to his weight. He is sixteen pounds. I don't understand, because he eats alot. Many women would kill for his metabolism, but in baby world it’s not cool. He is constantly salivating, because his two bottom teeth are growing in. I wondered if his teething is contributing to his lack of weight gain. Sometimes, little man's gnawing on his hand like he was a zombie from Night of the Living Dead. To care for his gums I give him some homeopathic teething pills that instantly dissolve alongwith rubbing his gums with teething gel. If he develops a fever, than I drop it like it’s hot by dosing him with Tylenol. I believe that all babies grow at their own pace. I'm not worried about my little featherweight.

Speaking of food, my baby food processing days has come to a ceasing halt. It seems my darling boy prefers the store bought stuff. Traitor. I don’t mind except that it be organic and no sodium. Safeway has a great organic line and it’s cheap! Screw Whole Foods, Safeway’s organic line is the poo. I guess it’s just as well as it takes time off my hands and creates some space in our freezer.



As Chloe always fights to be the center of adoration, he and Chloe are creating a close bond every day. There’s nothing like Hunter’s growing interest in tugging on the white furry tail of our Bichon. Once a day, they sit nose to nose for a few seconds and than Hunter bursts into a chuckle. This goes repeatedly a few times, before I put a stop to it. You never know when our bichon may turn on Hunter. It’s like a bunny rabbit gone wild, but it could happen.

Stay tuned for his next month’s baby’s new trick report. Hopefully, he’ll be babbling “mama” and crawling like spider in heat.

This is Shellie and the rest of the Kitchens bidding you good “dadadadada day” back to you Bob at the studio!