If you want only date format then you can manually convert it by passing your individual fields like:
>>> import datetime
>>> date = datetime.date(int('2017'),int('12'),int('21'))
>>> date
datetime.date(2017, 12, 21)
>>> type(date)
<type 'datetime.date'>
You can pass your split string values to convert it into date type like:
selected_month_rec = '2017-09-01'
date_formate = datetime.date(int(selected_month_rec.split('-')[0]),int(selected_month_rec.split('-')[1]),int(selected_month_rec.split('-')[2]))
You will get the resulting value in date format.