Well, I need to record some things for a doc appointment. I need to know why you won’t use your hands and arms much. It seems to be holding you back from sitting up on your own. You’ll use your hands in your mouth. You love that! And now you seem to play with your knees and pants. If I try to bend your arms, you just keep them straight. They seem to be very strong, but you have no interest or inkling to use them to steady or support yourself. You still fling yourself back all the time, and keep your head back a lot. You still gag, sometimes an hour or 2 after eating. More so with a bottle. You have little or no interest in toys. Maybe nothings up, but you’re 9 months old now, and I think its time to pursue it further.

At our first swimming lesson, it was interesting to see how unique you were in relation to the other babies. You were not interested in what was going on, only in staring at the skylights, and not letting me move your arms to make motions to the song we were singing. Hmm….you are definitely developing at a pace different from most kids. Different is not a bad thing. Different is actually a really cool thing, and can be enjoyed immensely if one has the self esteem to go with it. Never be afraid of being different. I used to be, but thanks to you, I get the opportunity to drop my need for others approval once and for all! Thank you for being different. I love you for it. It’s what makes you you. But we do have to see the doctor to be sure nothing’s up. Family members have expressed the thought that maybe you had gone backward in your development, but it seems more of a leveling off, or at least a micro slow progression. You seem to be tolerating your bumbo chair a bit longer, but you still always fling back, which prevents you from sitting on your own. And you really get frustrated when I prevent you from flinging. Unfortunately, as much as you seem to have to, or want to do it, it keeps you from sitting on your own and moving forward in your development. Truthfully, sometimes it feels like you’ll never sit, crawl or walk. But I know you will. You’ve just got your own pace. It seems to be the speed of trees. You can’t see a tree grow, but it does just the same.

Sometimes it looks like you can see, and other times it looks like you don’t. You will look at people interacting with you, and respond to their gestures, but things? Not interested much. A toy will capture your attention if its music and lights. Sometimes you look, other times not. I know you can hear though.

Next:  Blood tests, perseverance….