We had Carter's 9 month doctor's visit today!
The first thing I find myself thinking is How are we here already?!?! And that is immediately followed with an excitement for all of the new things Carter will be able to do....like my favorite, eat what we eat! :) I have been given the green light to feed Carter what I want to now and it's about to be a thrilling experience for my little guy! I have already been sneaking him pieces of what we eat, but cautiously in fear of giving him something that is harmful. But now I feel like the doors are open and we can go hog wild! So, for his 9 month celebration, we had lunch with Rachel and Katie at Panera and he got to eat part of my turkey sandwich and apple. He was loving it! :)
So, the report card:
Carter weighs 19 lbs 7 oz which puts him in the 40th percentile. I'm NOT surprised. This kid is truly moving from the moment he's awake until the moment he crashes. My scale at home has said about the same and initially I was a bit concerned that he gained so little since his 6 month checkup (1.5 lbs) but realizing how much he is moving makes it understandable. He was 29 and 7/8 inches long putting him in the 90th percentile. We were told repeatedly that he was "long and lean". Dr. Burns was getting quite the kick out of him for his curiosity with that long, cold thing she kept putting on his chest (maybe I have a future doctor in the making) and his legs and arms that were just a movin'. She thought he was pretty funny! :) He has a way of charming everyone.
The main thing from this appointment was discussing his foods, his upcoming skills, and the fact that next time we come he will be 1....year....old..... NO WAY!
So, what're his skills?
Crawling: Yes he issss!! Today he crawled from one end of the living room to the other because he saw my sister's dog and NEEDED to touch him! :) He's a boy on the move now for sure!!! He came home and followed that up with multiple across-the-room crawls. He's everywhere now!
Pulling up: This is definitely Carter's favorite right now! Anything and everything is something that can be pulled up on!! He loves being near the couch, and he's F*A*S*T! It's not safe to take an eye off him because sure enough, he is up on something and that is followed by a quick fall to the floor. TV stands, chairs, toys, anything that are in his vicinity are his walking sticks! Furniture beware! Pulling up is done with 2 hands and a mouth that slobbers!
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| Are you watching me? |
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| Pulled up on his music table and is serenading us! |
Cruisin: Once he's up, he's moving. He does not want to be still. He wants to find his way (quickly) to the other side of the couch, the room, the house. He loves loves loves being walked holding his hands. Any mobility he can get, he wants! I think that's why he loves his car walker so much too.
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Kissing: A Carter favorite, and FOR SURE a Mommy favorite. I get to be the recipient of his sweet kisses over and over and over. Ohhhh, it's the best game. He knows how stinkin cute he is too because he kisses me, then looks at me with a huge smile, and of course I encourage it with "oooo how sweet! Thank you for the kisses" and that just leads him to give me another one! :) The best kisses though are the ones when he is intently playing on his own, turns back quickly to see if I'm there, reaches for me and plants a big one on my cheek, and then turns back around to play some more. Those are some sweet moments where he just thought to himself, I love Mommy and need to show her! OOOOO he melts my heart.
Mimicking Games (peek a boo, shape sorting, making faces we are making): Peek a boo has become so much fun with Carter because he now likes to be the one hiding. He takes any object he finds and puts it in front of his face. Then he moves it quickly and the person on the other end is greeted with a hopeful smile! His efforts are rewarded with Peek a BOO! :) And that makes him laugh and do it again. He also loves to put his face down in a pillow and play that way! It brings him lots of giggles if after he does it, the other person does it too. It's so much fun right now with him being in a stage where he can play with me. He loves his shape sorter. If I put a shape in the sorter, he wants to also, so I guide him to do it and he smiles ear to ear. Anything that we are doing, he wants to do too. It's amazing to watch these developments. He is growing and getting so smart! He is fascinated by the way things work and what they do and how they are. He studies them closely to try to understand them. He does the same thing with what he sees people doing. He studies and figures out how he can do it and then mimicks it. I love this stage!
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| Carter is playing peek a boo with me! |
Waving: Ok, another fave!! I guess I love everything he's doing right now! He waves to anyone: hi and bye. He waves to our car when we go out to it...I like to think it's because he's genius and knows we are leaving in the car! :) He waves to animals that are near him, and doors that we are entering through. His wave isn't the flapping arm, its the hand open and close as if he was squeezing a stress ball. I LOVE IT!!!!
High Five: Usually only performed for Mommy. I guess it's our little thing. But her sure does love giving high fives! They make him happy.
Some of his other favorites are swimming: he is a fish! He gets giddy when we go to the pool and loves to splash around.
He also loves jumping still! Seriously, his nickname is Tigger. He would be thrilled if that's all he could do for the rest of his life!!
Watch Carter jumping in his crib! I can't figure out how to load an iphone video so here's a link to Youtube of his Tiggerisms. :)
And of course, he loves sitting or rolling or jumping into anything he can!
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| I love baskets! |
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| Must get in my toy basket! |
He is just growing and developing and I am in awe of how many changes kids go through in such a short time. It's hard to think that 9 short months ago, he was sleeping about 19 hours a day and unable to do anything other than nurse, sleep, and look into space. Now, he's so full of life, curiosity and love. I'm excited to watch the continual growth and I'll let you know when the walking starts happening (my guess is it won't be too long). YIKES!! That's quite the thought.
And a fun sign off....When he doesn't like something, he lets us know too! Here's how he felt about his lunch! ..... clearly it's better to be worn than eaten!
