Oh, my son.
We've been so busy around here lately that we just got to David's well visit today, 2.5 weeks late. I forgot to bring his vaccination booklet. Forgot to give him tylenol for the shots I thought he was getting (and then realized he wasn't getting any). Then forgot the little sheet they give you with the stats on it. But allow me to take a moment and appreciate my boy at 9 months.
This kid is pretty amazing. What babies learn in a month's time just blows my mind. Since Thanksgiving, he has learned to crawl, sit up on his own, pull up to stand, shake his head "no" (vigorously), give kisses, clap his hands, and just generally get into trouble. He's sleeping through the night (after I stopped allowing him to nurse at all hours). He's everywhere. Into everything. And smiling the whole time.
He still likes to eat. And nurse. He eats 5-6 jars of baby food per day plus cereal (in 3 sittings). He still nurses about every 3 hours during the day. And thus, he still gets the award for being Poopmaster of the house (although we've drastically reduced clothing stains since moving toward solid food). His thighs are huge. He wears 12-18 month size clothing. But today he weighed in at 21 lbs, 2 oz (55%'ile) and 28.25 inches (45%'ile). So apparently average 9 month old boys wear size 18 months? I don't get it.
We just got him a new car seat because he was looking quite snug in the infant carrier. He loves people, loves to be held, loves his sister and all little kids. He says "Mama" when he's crawling toward me, but I'm not sure yet if he knows that's me, or if he's just babbling.
I got this email late yesterday afternoon that was a forward from a friend of a friend. This woman has a son with autism, and she feels confident that the disorder is linked to vaccinations. Although I've done a lot of reading and research on the topic myself, the email was emotionally charged and got me worked into a tizzy on the eve of a doctor's appointment. I was extremely relieved when they told me he didn't need any shots today, and then I had a heart to heart with my pediatrician about the whole topic. One of his thoughts was, "I am completely convinced that vaccines do not cause autism. But if you are uncomfortable at all, I will not look down on your in any way if you want to postpone. Being a parent is an incredible responsibility and we can only do what we feel is best for our kids." I've mentioned about a thousand times how much I like my pediatrician. Too bad he scares the Bejeezus out of Katy.
Being a parent IS such a huge responsibility. There are so many decisions to make and so much pressure to do it right and so many things to worry about that might go wrong. Some days I'm completely overwhelmed by it all. But all we can do is what we think is best.
So David is good. I love him so much. The past couple of days he's been snuggling his little face against mine while I hold him, which is about THE best feeling in the world.
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To punctuate the afternoon, I had put the kids down for naps and was hearing both of them talking in their cribs when THUNK. I knew instantly that Katy had fallen (jumped?) out of her crib. She was pretty hysterical, saying her head hurt, and she developed a goose egg pretty quickly. I called the doctor, and they said just to keep an eye on her and watch for certain signs of more serious injury. I really don't think she'll do it again *fingers crossed*, because she really scared herself. We'll see.
5 comments:
David - what a gorgeous boy! Every single time I've spent time with him he's smiling.
Autism versus shots: I hold my hand up to being an ignoramus on the subject but I like my pediatrician and I feel confident that his advice is good, so we do as we are told. I mean, really, what other choice do you have unless you have medical trainig?
Katy - time for the big girl bed!!!!
Beautiful baby boy! His smile just makes me happy. Glad he is growing so well- those clothing sizes never seem to match the age. The autism/vaccination debate is a confusing one. I think you know that I work on an autism-screening team. I try to be educated and the boys are vaccinated...but there's a little part of me that wonders if vaccines are safe. I find myself nervous each time a round of shots comes along but so far, have opted to vaccinate. As for the crib, Katy probably will do it again- she'll just learn how to do it without falling! Michael had been climbing out of his crib for a while and we just put in a bed 2 days ago. Sigh...why do they have to be so curious?
I am disappointed that Brian has lost the title of Poopmaster. The first sons can be pretty aggressive when claiming titles from the father. It does seem rather Biblical, however, as the Bible History web site defines a birthright as follows: "The birthright of the firstborn consisted in the first place of a double portion of what his father had to leave."
So every time you change a diaper think to yourself "hey look, double portion."
http://www.bible-history.com/isbe/B/BIRTHRIGHT/
Yay, David! Another fantastic checkup! (But Oma knew you were PERFECT anyway.) Look out, Katy. Baby brothers soon figure out that whatever toy you have looks like fun!
I know it is hard to give any kind of medicine to your kids. We are quite removed from the days when children died of whooping cough and German measles. Most of the people who had polio are now in their 60's or older.
There are still countries where the infant mortality rate is 25-30%! But the danger doesn't seem very real to us in this country.
Whoa. That boy is so gorgeous. Seriously, I'm almost speechless.
Except then you mentioned CRIB JUMPING. NO!
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