Nutrition Class

We went to the infant nutrition class last Thursday. As I expected, I did not learn anything I didn't already know. You are already eating the amount of food that they recommend for your age. Something that was kind of interesting was that they suggested that we mix in butter, cooking oil, sour cream, cream cheese, or salad dressing into your baby food to increase the number of calories that you are eating. I'm not so sure if I like that idea. I don't want to get you used to eating lots of extra calories. I think the doctors are focusing too much on statistics and not taking the individual situation into account.

Love Always,
Mommy

Pound-ally Challenged

At your 9 Month Well Baby appointment, your doctor said that she was concerned but not worried yet about your weight. When you were born you were just over 7 pounds. And at that appointment you had just broken 16 pounds (5th percentile). Most of the babies in the Mommy and Me Group pass you up in weight by the time they are 6 months old. But it is not like you don't eat. You generally drink a 9 oz bottle every 4 to 5 hours plus baby food and snacks. So at this appointment the doctor suggested that you keep drinking the same amount of formula and eat baby food 3 times a day. She also wanted us to come back in a month for a weight check.

So last Thursday we went in for the weight check. At this point you were eating everything that she wanted you to eat (36 oz of formula and 3 meals for baby food (4 oz each) plus snacks). Except you were sick the two weeks before we went in and did not eat very much during that time. So when you were weighed, you were only 16.1 pounds (4th percentile). You actually lost .1 of a pound from last month. So now your doctor has referred us to an infant nutrition class. But I don't think we could possibly fit any more food in the little belly of yours.

Love Always,
Mommy

Big Scary Fish

This whole week you have been really sick. I think that you and I ended up getting the flu, even though we both got the flu shot a couple of months ago. The only thing that you want to do all day is sit on my lap and watch movies. Specifically, you decided that Finding Nemo is your new favorite movie. You used to only pay attention to the Baby Einstein movies, but for some reason this week you LOVE Finding Nemo. It is the only thing that can get you to stop crying at some points this week. So in the past 5 days, we have probably seen the movie about 20 times. And I found it very interesting that you were not phased at all by the "scary parts" of the movie (sharks, fish with big teeth, scuba divers, etc). That was until yesterday. For the first time yesterday afternoon, you became visibly scared of the big scary fish with huge teeth. This is the fish that has the light attached to its head to lure in its prey in the dark depths of the ocean.

I'm not sure what changed from the last time that we saw this part (about an hour and a half ago) to now. But you were definitely scarred this time. Your whole body got tense, your eyes got big and you started to whine when the big scary fish was lit up for the first time. Then you actually started to cry when it started chasing Marlin and Dorey. It took me a couple of minutes to calm you down. Then the next time that part came on, you were standing at the back door looking out into the backyard. And you heard this section starting, looked back at the TV and started crying and crawling towards me.

It is very interesting to see you starting to learn social cues. I'm pretty sure that you are not scared of the background music, because the other "scary parts" have scary music but you are not scared of them.

Love Always,
Mommy

"All Done!"

Last night I was feeding you dinner and something cool happened. You were eating Chicken and Rice baby food. You were almost done with the whole jar when I thought you might be thirsty. I have been trying to introduce the sippy cup to you. You seem to like the sippy cups with the soft spout more, because you can bite down on it and the liquid comes out. You don't like the cups that you have to suck on to get stuff to come out. So anyway, I gave you your sippy cup. You took a few sips, then you threw it on the floor and screamed..."ALL DONE!". I couldn't believe it. I asked you, "Lexi, are you all done?" And you shouted again, "ALL DONE!". Both times you did the sign along with the words.

You have been signing "all done" for a couple of weeks now. And I usually sign and ask you if you are all done at the end of each meal. But I did not think that you would pick it up this quickly. I know that you understand the signs for milk, diaper, food, mama and dada because you respond to them when I sign without speaking. But now you are starting to sign back, which is the whole point. And it seems that you are saying more words earlier because of the sign language. Most things are still "dadadada". But you definitely say dada, mama, duck (because of a book we read), hi daddy, and now all done. You have also tried to say doggy many times, but you don't quite have it down yet.

Love Always,
Mommy

My Little Gabber

I knew something big was coming, I just didn't know what or when. You have been irritable, haven't been sleeping normally, and as soon as the doctor says that you need to eat more solids (she said you were too skinny and we needed to fatten you up) you have been refusing to eat. This all adds up to your most recent "cloudy period" and developmental leap. During this "cloudy period", you are supposed to be learning about sequences of events and routines.

You are definitely learning our routines, but the really cool new thing that you did yesterday was you said "hi daddy" without provocation. Daddy was on the computer with his back to you. You were playing on the floor. He turned around and looked at you, and you said "hi daddy" and went back to playing like it was nothing. Daddy and I both looked at each other in amazement. We could not believe what we just heard, but we both heard it. This was the first time that you said two words together. So far you had only said two words total (dada first, then mama).

Then I was reading you a story before bed about a duck and a goose. I pointed to the duck and said "ducky". And you repeated it. I wanted to see if it was just a coincidence, so I said it again. And you repeated it with me 3 times! Before I know it, you are going to be talking up a storm.

Love Always,
Mommy

Your First Tooth!

I finally saw your first tooth today. All of your (younger) friends have been getting teeth left and right, but you did not have any until today. I wasn't about to rush you with this though, I have heard too many horror stories about teeth coming in. It seems like it is really moving fast. Yesterday Grammy looked in your mouth and there wasn't anything. Then this morning I looked in there and I saw a red line on your gums. And now a few hours later, I can see the white of the tooth and I can feel how jagged it is.

You aren't really fussy at all so far. In fact you slept for about 14 hours last night. You haven't been napping all that much recently, but I think that is just because we haven't been home. So you finally have your first tooth at 9 months and 3 weeks old.

Love Always,
Mommy

Learning Something New Everyday

It is amazing to watch you play. It seems like you learn something new everyday. You have been playing with this rectangular toy for a month now. Each side has something different on it. At first, you just liked to eat the key and the shapes that came with it. Then you learned how to push the buttons for the telephone that is attached to it, and make the noises. Then you learned how to move the cogs of the clock. Now today, you just learned how to push a button that makes the bear's head pop out. Then you learned how to push it back in. You are so proud of yourself. And so am I.

Love Always,
Mommy