9 month appointment

Copied from FTM and backdated to fill in historical data.

She was 18lbs 1.1oz (40%) and 26 3/4" (25%). The doc said that since she was making so much developmental progress (mental and physical), she expected to see a slow in her growth rate. She also finally got her 2nd pneumococcal vaccine.

I was advised that, since she's trying to mimic words already (she watches us say 'cat' and pretty regularly gets out 'ca' while looking at the kitties), I shouldn't push so hard on the sign language because that could actually slow down her talking. Since my sister is a deaf mute, I'd actually like Ryanne to have some ASL as her 2nd language so I guess I have some research to do there. Any book/web site advice?

Ryanne did her usual showing off and stood up in the middle of the room just to show the doc she could. No steps, though. We got a couple more the other day when she wanted something on the stool behind me. I asked about shoes, just to get her advice, and she said to try to keep them soft soled for as long as possible. I haven't seen sizes above 9 months with a soft sole, though. What did you ladies with walkers do?

Other than that, it went very well. I had a ton of questions about feeding, etc, since she started spitting out her baby food when her 2nd tooth came in (the doc even said she could see the two top starting to make their way) and we switched to primarily finger foods. Initially, the doctor said she would like me to try to continue baby cereal. In the end, though, her hematocrit levels were 'great' so the doc told me not to drive myself or R crazy with the cereal, but to just keep trying to give her lots of variety on the finger foods.

We were also told to night wean her to protect her teeth. She's been waking between 1 and 2 for a couple of weeks. I thought it might be habit because she spent so much time the last 3 months waking up in the night for something (stuffy nose, teething pain, etc) and the doc agreed, but said to let her CIO. I can't do that so I've told DH he'll have to start getting up more since she just doesn't want me in the middle of the night if she can't nurse. We've used many of the methods in Pantley's No Cry book so I guess I'll have to re-read to give him some tips.

I scheduled an extra appt for end of Sept (11m) so the doc can try to see her (but no 12m shots) before we leave for Japan. She told me that I could get any regular vaccs over there since they are as stringent, if not moreso, on the requirements.

Thanks for checking in on us. Some warm 9 grain bread (one of R's faves) that DH is baking for all of you!