Caleb’s Nine Month Stats

06/04/2008


Eating Fun 9, originally uploaded by StephLewis.

We went in for Caleb’s nine month well-baby checkup today. They said he is overall a very healthy and “advanced” baby in terms of his abilities. He is, however, below average when it comes to the regular baby stats. Here they are:

Weight: 18 lbs., 13.9 oz. (24th percentile)
Length: 27.50 inches (26th percentile)
Head: 17.17 inches (46th percentile)

He’s also an eating machine. The doctor said that babies run a spectrum from being very eager eaters to being very finicky (in terms of eating “real” food vs. baby food). Caleb eats pretty much everything (except the “baby no-no” foods), and most of these are things from my plate that I just chop up for him. He will refuse baby food unless it is chunky, so I’ll usually mix something in with it (usually rice or cereal puffs). His favorite foods now are cheetos, garlic cheesy toast, green beans (whole, cooked), meat, cottage cheese, and garlic mashed potatoes. I find that a dash of garlic or cinnamon can make the difference between lips clamped shut or mouth wide open. So, he’s definitely a connoisseur.
Oh, and he also has a tooth! It broke through on May 22nd. It’s the top-left tooth. I think the top-right is going to come next because it looks like it’s ready to break through any day now. He’s handled teething pretty well. We relieve the pain with my home remedy. I take one ice cube, put it in a baby washcloth, then twist it up with one of my hair ties. I dip it in water and hand it to him and he just sucks away. He is not even interested in store-purchased teething rings and I personally think they’re a wasted effort. Sometimes we’ll split a fruit popsicle too. I don’t mind splitting popsicles! It’s one of the honors of motherhood! (Mmmm… popsicle… garaglaaallllhhhhhahahahaha…)
He’s growing, he’s fantastic, and I’m loving every minute of it.