our little man

9.05.2007

nine month appointment

benjamin had his nine month check-up with dr. brooks today. he's doing great and she even said that he's ahead in his development. the only thing that was surprising (and a little concerning, although the doctor didn't seem too worried) is that he's actually lost a pound since his last appointment at six months. he's now weighing in a 17 pounds, 1 ounce - which puts him in the 10th percentile. he's holding steady at 27.5 inches for height, which is the 25th percentile. wow. you'd never believe he was a nearly ten-pound baby, would you?

the nurse had me bring him out to the scale a second time just to be sure the weight was correct, and then dr. brooks came in for the exam. she talked about the weight loss issue while she checked him out (everything else looking just perfect), and she didn't seem that concerned. when she first came in she saw him standing by a basket of books, barely holding on, and asked if he was cruising the furniture now. i told her that yes, he definitely is, and has been for a couple of months now. she nodded and said she thinks that is why his weight changed so much. typically, babies start to level off around nine months, and there will be some drop on their curve at their next appointment. because ben was mobile so early (and boy is he!), he started burning all of those extra calories earlier. of course, usually the weight just stays steady, they don't actually lose - so she does want ben to come back in 2 weeks for a simple weight-check with the nurse to make sure he's on track. she said to go ahead and start giving him three meals a day of solid food and see if that helps, too.

of course i'm still a little worried and am anxious to go back for the weight check so i can have some reassurance that he's fine - but i guess if the doctor isn't concerned, i should just listen to her. it's funny because yesterday at the store someone asked me how old he is, they said, "oh, what a peanut!" and i remember thinking that's certainly the first time anyone has said that about him! adam and i knew his growth had really slowed, though, because he hasn't outgrown any clothes in quite awhile and just seems to have slimmed down... so we expected to see some changes in his percentiles at this appointment - but who knew it would be so much!

posted at 11:55 AM by aimee // 0 comments