Ben had his 9-month checkup yesterday. He is doing great, other than an ear infection from his ever-loving cold. He measured a little smaller than we expected, given the fact that he eats everything in sight:
Height: 28 1/2 inches (60th percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs, 11 oz (36th percentile)
Head: 17 1/4 inches (12th percentile)
The last 6 weeks or so have been tough for Ben. He has had just one or two peaceful nights of sleep, and the rest have been tearful if not downright angry. I think there has been a number of factors causing the nighttime upsets, including teething (he got his first two teeth recently), stomach bug, chronic cold, cough and congestion, fluid in his ears, separation anxiety, and a newfound desire to sleep unswaddled and on his tummy. However, the last two nights have been slightly improved and he's on an antibiotic now, so hopefully we'll start sleeping more soon.
In the daytime, Ben loves to stand up to things as often as possible, and he travels half by real crawling and half by army crawling. He has just started getting into kitchen drawers, going up the stairs, and sneaking into the bathroom a lot in the last week or two. Today I noticed him pointing at things several times with his index finger, which was so cute.
One of his first days learning to stand up.
Ben is not quite as mellow as he used to be. These days he bursts into tears and sobs many, many times throughout the day due to one of the following: Holly sitting on him, Holly trying to "hug" him, Holly (or anyone) taking his toy from him, Holly pushing him away from her (with her foot), Mom setting him down, Mom walking away from him, Daddy coming home from work and not picking him up right away, anything that doesn't happen that he expected. I hope it's just a phase! Maybe he is overly emotional due to the same list of things that makes him cry all night. :(
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| Considering cheering up after a teary upset |
Until just recently, Ben's favorite object was a wipes box or Kleenex box, but now any kind of ball is his favorite. He is so happy to hold onto a ball and bounce it up and down in his lap and it's always accompanied by giggles and shrieks of excitement. He especially loves the mini soccer ball he got Daddy for Christmas. Some of his other favorite things are taking baths with Holly, being a part of playtime with Dad and Holly, and holding onto Mom's hair.
Ben has quite a taste for food and now eats a number of table foods at his meals, including scrambled eggs, cheese, wheat bread, pizza crust, canned peaches, yogurt, bananas, chicken, and all kinds of crackers and cereals. And apparently he can have peanut butter, because a moment too late I discovered Holly had fed him one of her graham crackers with peanut butter on top...but he didn't have any reaction, so I guess he's not allergic! Recently we were at a new pizza restaurant in town and we ordered an appetizer of focaccia topped with roasted red peppers, salami and cream cheese that was served with a balsamic vinaigrette dip. Ben kept grabbing my piece so I let him try it, and then he kept trying to go for the dip, so I dipped it in the sauce for him. I expected him to make a face at the sour taste of the vinegar, but he loved it and sucked all the sauce off it.
I'm so sad that Ben is growing up and getting bigger. He is a sweet and squishy little snuggler and I never want that to end!
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