penny had her nine month doctor's appointment today, and she's doing great! she is now 18 pounds 5 ounces, which is right on at the 50th percentile, and 29 inches (sorry, mom - i said 27 on the phone, but that was last visit!), which is still 90th. she's doing all of the things she should be doing and more, and the doctor is very impressed with her cuteness! she told us that her top teeth are probably coming in any day now! we have gotten the go ahead for all sorts of new foods! that was the good news of the day. in less good news, poor little penny got her third hep b shot and a flu shot - the first injection in her arm - and she handled it like such a big girl! she didn't cry at all for the flu shot, and managed to recover from the vaccination by watching water pour out of the faucet into the sink. easy as pie, we thought. but NO! it turns out that nowadays they send you to get blood drawn for a CBC and lead screening when you are nine months old, and we figured we'd take care of that today as well since it needed to be done. hello, surprise visit to the hospital! since alex bit the bullet and held her for the shots at the doctor, i held her for the phlebotomists. luckily for her, she has very good veins (she gets them from her mama), and it was over pretty quickly. the poor thing was so pooped after the whole ordeal that she fell asleep all snuggled up on me as i carried her home.
this week, penny has learned to pull herself up to standing! it's very exciting, and she is really proud of herself. she has started to figure out cruising, and i'm doing the mean mom thing of putting something she really wants just out of her reach to encourage her. it worked for rolling over and crawling, so why not this too?
also, she is feeding herself with a spoon! i help her go "dip, dip, dip" in the bowl, and she expertly maneuvers it into her mouth. she was stuck on putting the wrong end in her mouth for a couple of days until i pulled this trick - totally ignoring when she chomped on the wrong end, and cheering and clapping like a maniac when she got the right end. it IS a bit like training a pet, but whatever! it worked! here's a collage:
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i was trying to take photos, hold the bowl
and help her eat, all at the same time.
please forgive the blurriness. |
i am totally in love with all of her fall clothes, and i try to dress her in them until alex helpfully points out that it's in the high 80s outside. we had the air conditioner on two days of last week. seriously, people, it's late september already. i was not wearing tank tops as back to school clothes when i was a kid.
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| finally! a photo of her teeth! |
and to tie it all up, speaking of trying new foods:
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| so, you grownups call this "chicken"? |
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| i LIKE this chicken! |
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| this has been a rough day for me. do not judge. |
after the jump, a bonus photo for fans of penny's ridiculous expressions
thanks for jumping!
I am a little surprised that the CBC/lead test was venous. AND that they sent you to the phlebotomist for it. (I think in my peds practice it's a finger stick unless the lead results come back as abnormal, and they only send the kids to the phleb. if there's a problem drawing blood in the office) If I remember correctly you said your pediatrician was associated with Methodist, right? I imagine it'd still be inconvenient. Especially if the child is less easy than the lovely Penny.
ReplyDeleteARE YOU TELLING ME SHE COULD HAVE HAD A STICK TEST INSTEAD?! we went to methodist labs to have it done - so not really a huge deal, but i sure would have rather had a finger stick than a whole tied off to-do. i'm sure penny would have preferred it, too. and now she's got the sweatiest little mild flu (we assume) from the vaccination. this baby is having a rough week.
ReplyDeleteI know that my practice does the finger stick for the lead initially, I'm not sure about the CBC. Poor pincushion Penny, now she's not feeling too well either. Boo!
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