Check up

Trey and Bella had their "9 month" check up today! Dr. Dave said they are both doing great! He was amazed that they hadn't been in for a sick visit since their 6 month check up!
Dr. Dave commented on how well behaved they were, each sitting in the stroller patiently while Mommy was helping him with the other baby!

He was very happy to hear they are not big criers and will sit in their highchairs in restaurants while Mommy and Daddy eat. He encouraged Mommy to continue not putting restrictions on where we can take them since they are babies. He is a strong believer that they can be taken anywhere, and this is how they learn to behave in different situations.

Trey weighs 14 pounds and 6 ounces (3rd percentile for his corrected age), is 26 inches long (25th percentile for his corrected age), and his head circumference is 44 centimeters(50th percentile for his corrected age)!

Bella weighs 13 pounds and 3 ounces (3rd percentile for her corrected age), is 25 3/4 inches long (25th percentile for her corrected age), and her head circumference is 43 centimeters (50th percentile for her corrected age)!

Dr. Dave was very impressed with them at the visit and said that they are doing great developmentally, doing things that many of his 9 month old full-term babies are not doing (they both waved for him and tried to clap for him)!

Dr. Dave said they are ready to be taken off baby food! We will be finishing the homemade baby food that we have in the freezer and then Trey and Bella will begin eating whatever Mommy and Daddy (okay, Daddy!) are serving for dinner! Table food here we come!

Dr. Dave did say to avoid raisins, nuts, whole eggs, honey and seafood. Bella and Trey can now have some things that we have been avoiding until now, such as foods cooked with eggs, milk and cheese, yogurt, pudding, citrus, strawberries, and small amounts of whole milk!

Dr. Dave also said that Trey and Bella can be cut down to 4 nursing sessions per day if Mommy wishes! Or, we can continue on-demand nursing. They are now ready and able to have the majority of their calories from table food. Since many days, Trey and Bella only nurse 4-5 times anyway (not counting night time nursing), Mommy thinks we will try moving to 4 times a day when we return from vacation. We will also try to cut out the night feedings since Trey and Bella don't eat much then anyway. Mommy will try to just rock them when they wake up at night unless they really want to eat.

Trey and Bella also each got two vaccinations - Hepatitis B and Polio. They did great and only cried for a few seconds. Dr. Dave gave us forms to have blood drawn to test for lead and anemia levels, which is his standard practice at this age. We will review the results and the one year (yikes) check up on September 5, 2006 unless there is a concern.

Trey and Bella tried blueberries today! They weren't so sure about them! We will try again tomorrow at breakfast!