Our 9 Month Check-up

We had a great doctor's appointment today. Henry and Emma are right on track developmentally and physically. No more adjusting for their preemie status! Oh, and Emma has finally given up her pacifier and she is sleeping some on her stomach! YEAH EMMA!

Henry's Stats
Weight: 22 pounds 2 ounces; 75th percentile
Height: 29" 90th percentile
Head Circumference: 25th percentile (I think they mis-measured because his head is much larger than Emma's)

Emma's Stats
Weight: 19 pounds 14 ounces; 75th percentile
Height: 29.5" 90th percentile
Head Circumference: 90th percentile

I think that their scale was off today too. According to my scale at home (and our weights from when we were at the doctor a few weeks ago), Henry weighs 24 pounds and Emma weighs 22 pounds. At any rate, they are big healthy babies!

We learned a lot of other good info today too...

Emma's Reflux: Emma will stay on her reflux meds for a few more months. When she turns a year old, we will try to stop them. Most babies reflux disappears sometime between 6-9 months. With the type of medicine that we are on, the doctor thinks that we should stay on it for a few more months to make sure.

Formula and Food: As for food stuff, we seem to be right on track. These days, Henry and Emma take anywhere from 24-32 ounces of formula each day, 12-18 ounces of baby food and they also eat normal people food during each meal. Dr. Branco said that usually around 10-11 months, babies will no longer want us to feed them and will switch to just formula and solid food. Now they can eat just about anything except for the same "no" list from our last appointment (Honey, Nuts, Dairy, Eggs and Shellfish). I asked him about the eggs though since most of my friends are feeding their kids eggs. He said that when allergies became a problem, they started recommending that parents avoid all of the above foods. Now there are more allergies than ever so the pendulum is swinging in the other direction. He said that in 5 years, they will probably recommend that parents not withhold anything! So, for eggs, it is up to us.

Sippy cups: Both of the kids think that their sippy cups are chew toys. When they are REALLY thirsty they will drink from them. Dr. Branco said that it really doesn't matter if they drink any water at this point. They are getting all of the hydration that they need from the formula. The point of the sippy cups is to learn how to use them so we can get rid of bottles completely when they are 1 year old. He suggested that we start giving them some of their formula from the sippy cup to teach them.

Teeth: Henry now has 5 teeth! He got 2 of them today! Poor thing, his gums have been so swollen and painful for the last few weeks. Every morning I have been checking to see if another tooth came in. When I checked this morning, nothing new. This afternoon, there were 2! Unbelievable. Emma doesn't have any teeth yet, but you can see the top of her 2 bottom middle teeth. They are on the verge of poking through.

Sleep Issues: At our 6 month check-up, he told us that they would start waking up again during the night. He was right. Emma is up about 4 times a night on average. Henry rarely wakes up. Needless to say, we are exhausted. Dr. Branco told us that we have to teach her how to put herself back to sleep. When I asked how, he said, "just do less than you are doing now." If we continue to interfere less and less, but continue to let her know that we are there if she needs us, then she will learn to sleep through the night again. We have also had some nap issues over the last week. Both of the kids have been refusing some of their naps. I guess that most kids do that around this age and we just have to stick to our routine and they will fall back into their usual schedule. There will be no dropping naps anytime soon!

Next milestones: Thus far, Emma and Henry are right on track. They are sitting up, army crawling, passing toys between their hands, working toward their pincer grasp, saying their ba's, da's, ga's, ma's and la's and many other things. Now we are working toward the next milestones: clapping; waving; pointing at toys/things they want (Henry actually started that one today...he REALLY wanted a book off the bookshelf!); talking jibberish that sounds like full sentences/conversation; pulling up to standing, crawling with their stomachs off the floor (although many kids skip this one); taking steps while holding on to furniture and then walking!