9 month check up, new pillow, shoes, toys & swim trunks!

Eli had his 9 month well check on Friday and here are his stats:

Height: 29 in. (75%)
Weight: 25 lbs. 3 oz. (90-95%)
Head: 19 in. (OFF THE CHARTS-NO JOKE!!)

All checked out well and he is the picture of perfect health!! On the handout we get it talks about the skills he should have or on the verge of having. Here is what Eli can do:

1) spontaneous smile (and laugh!!)
2) turns towards voice
3) imitates speech sounds
4) works for toy
5) responds to name
6) indicates want
7) interactive games
8) drinks from cup (straw cup)
9) pincer grasp
10) bangs two blocks
11) looks for object (LOVES peek-a-boo)
12) passes object
13) stands holding on
14) sits without support
15) probes with fingers
16) puts blocks in cup/bucket

What he hasn't mastered yet is: feeds self (STILL not loving food), says mama/dada specific (only in a string of babbling), waves bye-bye, 1-2 words, stranger anxiety (not sure if he'll have this one, he loves to be around people and is a flirt!!! He also pretends he is shy and laughs and turns away or dives his face into whoever is holding him), gets to sitting position (ALMOST), crawling (not yet!!) & pulls to stand.

Eli is STILL not loving food. This continues to be no surprise to me as he has hated every attempt to give him anything besides breastfeeding (bottle, food, & only sometimes likes straw cup). I have tried a variety of foods, variety of methods, and still he only will take a minimal amount. This is only accomplished by using my finger and an occasional spoon attempt. I'm not worried about his nutrition, and neither is his doctor, it's the developmental skill of eating that he needs to work on. He takes a liquid vitamin with iron every other day to help with any issues with iron deficiency. The doc just said to continue to try daily with a variety of foods and textures, then after 2 weeks try 2x daily, working up to 3x daily with 2 snacks. She also said to give him larger finger foods so he can play with it and hopefully gum it. I've researched this online and found that he is not the only baby who doesn't like food. I've read of some 12-16 month olds still not liking solids. I would hope he wouldn't hold out that long. The hard thing is there is a fine line between force feeding and just following his lead. I'll just continue to offer & make multiple attempts with a variety of food and he'll eat when he is ready!!

Here is a video of Eli actually eating sweet potatoes on Saturday. But today, nothing. He even gagged and threw up! It's very inconsistent:



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

This week Eli got a variety of new items. One is this soft bolster pillow that I saw at BBB & just had to get to see if it would help at all with his crawling efforts. Here he is trying it out:

Here I am trying to encourage his crawling.....he's trying but nothing yet!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Eli also got a pair of fun new summer shoes. When I first put them on his feet he started hitting them together like this:

Here he is telling mommy he approves of his new shoes:

Mommy also decided to buy Eli a few new toys that were more "big boy". One is a pail & shovel set with a variety of fun items. Here he is wearing the pail. I'm sure when he is older he will wonder why mommy always puts things on his head ;) You can also see the shape sorter bucket.

The most fun toy is this xylophone/keyboard. Eli LOVES to hit and bang on things so he loved this right away in the store and had to have it!!

And to help bring in summer, Eli got his first pair of swim trunks and matching hat. He's pale like mommy so he'll have to wear A LOT of sunscreen to avoid being burned.

On Friday we invited over some friends from breastfeeding group to play at our house. Cheryl & Callie & Ursula & Jodi came over. It was a lot of fun! Callie is such a good little walker (with mommy's help) and Eli is jealous of her ability. Here are a couple cute of pics of the two love birds ;)

Eli enjoying some time in his diaper today:

Eli playing a fun game with mommy:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
Haven't heard whether or not I got the job I mentioned last post. I left a voice mail late Friday afternoon asking to call about their decision. If this one doesn't work out, I'm going to have to REALLY start to figure out our options. Unfortunately we forgot to plant a money tree in the back yard ;) so if anyone knows of a decent paying part-time job, let me know!