9 Months
Well, Miss Harper has officially been out in the world for as long as she was inside of me. I think that's a milestone, not sure why but it just seems like it is. She's actually 9 months and a week and I'm sure 10 months will sneak up on me just as quickly as all the rest have. We all went to her 9 month appointment last week and it appears she is doing well. I thought for sure she would be at least 20lbs but on their scale there she was 19lbs on the nose. Her head size is normal and she's 28 1/2" tall. The doc was impressed with her vocalizations and her overall intensity. Yeah, tell me about it dude. I am, though, worried. We have a referral to have her see a pediatric dermatologist up at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. We both started noticing these brownish little spots in random places on her back. Then there was one on her wrist and a few on her head. I am totally freaked about it. I am terrified that my one and only child is somehow filled with something horrible that I can't see. I can barely even think about it or type it here. So, that's all I'm going to say for now. We have an appointment on Feb 17th. Of course, there were no appointments before then. Figures. My mom keeps telling me that she is obviously doing well. She's eating, she's pooping (Lord is she!), she's peeing, she's nursing, she's happy, she sleeps, she plays. All good stuff. So, I'm just trying to concentrate on that. The ped. had a few thoughts about what it might be and thought it looked like an auto-immune thing where your mast cells produce too much histamine. He said many children outgrow it as they age. Ok, now I'm really going to stop talking about it. I am just terrified it's cancer. There, I said it. Now, moving on.
It is about damn time but Harper can finally go from a prone position to sitting up all on her own. She just never could before. She was happy sitting, could lie down, but then couldn't get back up on her own to sitting. All of a sudden, she just figured it out. Now she just gets up on all fours, kicks a leg out to the side, and uses those arms/hands to push herself up. That makes things a lot easier because she doesn't get pissed when she's tired of lying down. She appears quite proud of herself too. She still loves to stand but she really loves being up on her tippy toes. When I make her stand flat footed she gets all pissed off and screams at me. She can do it flat footed fine but she just wants to be up up up!
She is also turning into an eating machine. All of a sudden she is loving the food. I'm running out of ideas and feel bad when she's back to applesauce and squash. I have a great little book of blender recipes but I seriously don't have the time to make anything. I can only get maybe 20 minutes out of her being in the pack n play in the kitchen with me before she wants out. I can't get much made in 20 minutes!
Well, I was going to write more but it's about time for me to start packing up here at work. I'm terribly tired today as H didn't have a very good night last night; she was up at 1am screaming. The only way to calm her when that happens is to nurse so I was up then nursing and then up at 5 nursing again. Ah well, I know I will really miss those days when we don't have that relationship anymore!
Comments
Is she at a size where you can put her in one of those mobility things... where the kid sits with feet hanging down and can kick and wheel themselves around? Perhaps that would entertain her long enough for you to make dinner, and she'd almost have to be in the kitchen to get it to really work.
Was going to post myself but everyone started showing up early.
Vejas is going to be 2 in June and he's been all about "cooking" since he was about Harper's age. He gets a pot and a spoon and is just so content for hours! He especially likes it if he can put things into the pot and then eat them. Peas, little bits of carrot, his cracker bites, anything that he can stir. When we were there, he was stirring and then going around offering spoonfuls to everyone. So cute. It wasn't quiet, but it kept him out of trouble!
Perhaps Harper will turn out to be as wonderful in the kitchen as her mom is!
I can't believe how big Harper is! Have you tried the wholesome baby food site? Also, the book Deceptively Delicious has some good recipes. Some of them she is too young for, but I liked some of the ideas in the book, like mixing a pureed sweet potato in with oatmeal or adding pureed squash to mac and cheese. None of it is over the top, but it might give you some new ideas of what to do with purees. Have you tried giving her meat? Do you make lasagna or baked ziti? I know Miles started those around 9 months and he loves them.
Dr. Sears suggests creating a cabinet or drawer low to the ground just for the baby where you can keep plastic spoons, tupperware, spatulas, etc. that the baby can bang and play with. Not sure how your kitchen is set up but we leave one cabinet without a babyproof lock so miles can get in there and play. :)