9 month+ Well-Baby Check Up

Allie had a well baby check today and another DTap shot. Poor thing gets stuck by a needle just about every time we go to the doctor. She weighed in at 15lbs. 11oz. and measured 26.5 inches long.

At 9 months: (***note: all percentiles are based on a full term baby not Allison's corrected age of 7 months)

your child is 15.6875 pounds, and that is
at the 3rd percentile for weight.

your child is 26.5 inches, and that is
at the 12th percentile for height.

your child has a head circumference of 17.5 inches, and that is
at the 59th percentile for head circumference.

At 7 months:(***note: all percentiles are based on Allison's corrected age of 7 months. Doctors use Allison's corrected age until she reaches 2 years old.)

your child is 15.6875 pounds, and that is
at the 18th percentile for weight.

your child is 26.5 inches, and that is
at the 44th percentile for height.

your child has a head circumference of 17.5 inches, and that is
at the 82nd percentile for head circumference.


Allison is still sleeping through the night. It's great being able to get a good nights sleep regularly. She'll sleep a good 11 to 12 hours a night.

Allie has a well balanced diet that consists of 20 to 24 oz. of breast milk a daily along with stage 2 baby foods: 2oz. of fruit, 2 oz. of veggies, 1 oz of meat, and 8 tbls of cereal. She's just getting into finger foods. We've given her a few graduate puffs and yogurt melts now. She uses her only 2 teeth to mash up anything we give her.

Allie is pulling herself up on everything she can get her hands on. She absolutely LOVES to stand up. Tonight she stood up without any support for a good 20 seconds. She was sooo proud of herself, as were we. We love to see her big grin when she accomplishes something.

Allie enjoys playing peek-a-boo daily. She initiates it at times by covering her face with a blanket or anything else she can use to hide her face. It's really silly. I cover her face and then she takes it off and giggles and waits for me to cover it again. Some of her favorite toys include the remote control and my cell phone. She can't seem to get enough of either.

Allison is starting to learn about strangers and has some stranger anxiety on occasion when we go to new places. She does well around most people generally.

Overall, Allie is doing great. She's continuing to grow and surprises us all of the time.

Yogurt Melts

Allie tried strawberry Yogurt Melts for the second time today. She is still getting used to the strawberry flavor and texture of food she gets to mash up. We can't wait for her to try Baby Mum-Mums
a type of rice biscuit that melts in your mouth.

A Season of Firsts

WOW!!! Soo much has happened in the past two months. Allie is growing big and strong day by day. She's had a season of firsts. A list of her most recent firsts include: first solid food (rice cereal mmm yummy, then oatmeal and mixed cereal), first vegetables (she's now had sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, sweet peas and green beans), first juice (Allie tasted apple juice for the first time this week), first fruit (she just had bananas today), first time drinking water, first time drinking water from the end of a straw, first time rolling over from back to tummy, first time sitting in a high chair, first time out to eat at a restaurant (Corky's Barbeque - don't worry she didn't order from the menu), first time sitting alone unsupported, first time getting up on all fours, as well as first time seeing snow. Allie has done a lot of growing up in the past two months. She's talking a whole lot more.

We have been teaching her sign language. We always speak when we use the signs. So far we use the signs for MILK, ALL DONE, MOMMY, DADDY, DIAPER, CHANGE, LOVE, DOG, SLEEP, FOOD, and MORE. She hasn't used any signs yet herself but smiles when she recognizes the signs for MILK , ALL DONE, MOMMY, and DADDY. This month we'll be introducing a few more signs to her. We have four books and a dvd about signing with infants and all of them have great information. Baby Signing 123, by Nancy Cadjan, states that the developmental norm for a child at 12 months is a possible 2-3 spoken words, while a child the same age that signs has 25 signs and 16 spoken words. That's nothing! At 36 months the norm is to understand 800 words and use 3-5 words sentences easily, while the signing child has speech like a 47 month old up to 1500 words and almost total control of everyday language. By the time the children are 8 years old the IQ of signing children is 12 points higher than the developmental norm.

Allie is checking many things off of her milestone list. She's getting bigger and doing soo many things. She has outgrown a ton of clothes and is now wearing some 3-6 month and 6 month+ clothes. One of her biggest accomplishments is her ability to feed herself. Allie loves to hold her bottle during mealtime. Here is a picture of the first time she held her own bottle on February 10, 2009.

As time flies by Allie continues to amaze us. We love her very much and are excited to watch her grow. We can't wait to see what she will do next.

6 Month Well Baby Check

Yesterday, Allie turned 6 months old. She had her well baby check today. Allie is doing GREAT with her milestones. She's right on track with where she needs to be. She got a few shots and shared her powerful lungs with the world. Poor baby had to be stuck 3 times today. She got her HIB (Haemophilus influenzae type b) and Prevnar (pneumococcal (Pc) disease) vaccines and 1 shot of Synangis to protect her from RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus). She seems to be doing ok now though. Once we got home she was all smiles again. I'm sure she'll be tired and run a low fever, but that's to be expected.

Getting Bigger Every Day

Allie had a WIC appointment today. She weighed in at 12 lbs. and 11oz. and measured 24 inches long. She is getting so big to us. Everyone still comments about how small she is when we tell her how old she is. She'll be 6 months next week and looks like a 3 and a half month old. She's cute no matter how big she is!