9 Month Dr. Appointment

Maddie had her 9 month checkup and the pediatrician was very happy with how she's doing! Her illness seems to have passed as quickly as it arrived and she never broke out into a rash. She weighed in at 15 pounds 1 ounce, which puts her at the bottom of the weight chart, but she had a growth spurt and is perfectly average in height at 27 1/2". Her head size is 30%.

The doctor was very impressed how Maddie is walking around . On her standard form, there isn't even a checkbox for walking like that at her age, just crawling and cruising. She also wrote that Maddie is an excellent eater after we described the amount of food she eats every day and she witnessed Maddie down 2/3 of a banana while we were in the exam room. She thinks Maddie has a fast metabolism.

She also instructed Jessica to try reintroducing dairy into her diet to see if Maddie is able to digest it! Jessica was nervous, but we went to celebrate that night by stuffing ourselves with sicilian pizza!

Maddie's top teeth seem to be coming in, albeit very slowly. They've been keeping her up at night several times this week.

Sick Baby

Maddie got her first illness yesterday

After she woke up from her nap, she was lethargic and running a fever of 101.5+. Jessica gave her Tylenol and rushed her to the pediatrician. The Tylenol did a good job at bringing the fever down and her white blood cell count was good so there's no infection. Dr. Allison says there is a virus going around and if that's what it is, Maddie may break into a non-itching full body rash in a day or two. She could have been exposed anytime in the past two weeks.

We kept her on Tylenol last night and she slept well. This morning she woke up without a fever so we hope it was a 12 hour thing.

Walking

Maddie has started taking some baby steps, one to four at a time! She loves standing and exploring. She enjoys pulling magnets and pictures off the refrigerator. We've added baby gates around the house to let her roam around more, but without her getting into too much trouble!

We'll post a video of her walking after the weekend.

L'Shana Tova! Happy New Year!

Happy Rosh Hashana!

Maddie is crawling fast now! Once she in on the ground, she'll crawl out of a room and be flying down the hall in a flash. Either that or crawling toward the absolute worst thing in the room that she can put in her mouth!

In other news, next Friday is Jessica's 30th b-day! Be sure to wish her a happy birthday!

Growing Up

We retired Maddie's table top bouncer this weekend as she outgrew it. For now, the swing is still safe!

We've also discovered that a sure way to get Maddie very giggly is to play "Shark Attack" or "Jaws" with her. Basically, put her on the bed, then duck down and circle around the bed while humming the Jaws theme. She tracks the sound around the bed and she gets giggle whenever the "shark" shows their head. When the shark strikes, she squeals and laughs a lot! It's the first real game like activity for her.

Maddie is also getting very good at high-fives and will do some patty-cake hand slaping also.

Good News

Maddie and I went to the dr this morning to check on her status and I am happy to report that Maddie has gained 1lb 3oz in the last month! YAY!! She is doing great! The doctor actually expected a little decline since she has been so active, but Maddie showed her! hehehe

I can now start her on soy yogurt and should be okay to give her soy formula in her cereal or for an extra snack if need be.

New Goings On

In the eating department, Maddie had her first biscuit. It was a HUGE mess , but she loved it. She is now eating rice, oatmeal, avocado, peaches, blueberry, sweet potato, peas, green beans, pears, banana, carrots, and apple sauce. Squash, mango, and more are coming up!

Maddie is quickly getting better at crawling! In fact, she's also getting better at standing! And standing unaided (~ 1-5 seconds)

She loves to play with many of her toys and loves rattles and balls.