We have a 9 Month Old

Jack's 9 months old! Seems amazing, doesn't it? Mike asked me today which felt longer: being pregnant or having Jack in our world? I thought for awhile and decided that the pregnancy felt longer. I guess that's because of all the prep work with the IVF and the tests....and also because pregnancy actually lasts 10 months...40 weeks...no one really tells you that in the beginning. Also, it felt like we were waiting and waiting and waiting...as opposed to now, where we're so busy taking care of him that it feels like there's no down time. Regardless--- we've been lucky to have this little guy in our world for 9 months. Its been just great!

As for his 9 month check up...Jack is continuing to do well. He's 19 lbs and 29 inches tall. Thats 20th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height. Our pediatrician said that we shouldn't worry about his weight index dropping. Apparently its pretty typical at this age for very energetic and mobile babies to drop a little bit. Babies who aren't yet crawling around and moving all over the place tend to jump up in the index.

At his checkup, they asked a lot of questions about his fine motor skills, his mobility, communication, social skills. He's in the normal range for everything. When it comes to coordination and movement, he's showing to be a bit ahead of the curve. Jack can stand, play with a toy while standing (where he only uses one hand to hold onto a table for example), gracefully fall from a standing position (that's so not a quality he learned from his clutzy mom), crawl, climb stairs (just going up, with an adult right behind him), get into a sitting position from his stomache, bang toys together, pass food from one hand to the other, feed himself cheerios, and clap. Not bad for 9 months.

He is begining to make more noises. He says Ma-Ma and yesterday started saying Ba-Ba. He also squeals with glee (its hilarious-- and usually is accompanied with a big smile and/or giggle). We're working on Da-Da and Boom.

It seems like every day a little more of his personality comes out. I love it!!!