Cecelia at 9 Months

9 months on April 18, 2017

Cece had another tooth pop through this month (her top left), learned how to play peekaboo, and is a champ at feeding herself since she mastered the pincer grasp around 8 months.  I wish I could say she was more mobile but at this point all she really does is sit or roll over.  She just started getting to the point where when she sits, she'll lean over and place her hands in front of her and actually put weight on them but she's definitely a ways off from scooting, army crawling, crawling, or pulling herself up.  We've been working with her but 90% of the time when we put her on her stomach, she'll roll right over to her back.  If we try to block her from rolling over, she'll start crying.  At her 9 month appointment, the pediatrician told us some tips to try to start getting her to move more but she's also slightly concerned that she has low muscle tone in her legs so if we don't see any improvements in the next month, we'll need to take her to physical therapy.  On top of that, she's only gained 11.5 oz since her 4 month appointment so we have an appointment next month to go back to the pediatrician and hopefully she's made gains in both areas.  Oh, and of course her iron was on the lower end when they checked her hemoglobin (she was 9.9 and normal is 10-14) so we need to give her iron supplements/drops too.  It was a rough appointment for this mama and thank god that Lucy has always been "normal" otherwise I'd feel even more guilty that I don't know how to parent.

Weight: 14 lbs. 11.5 oz. on April 21, 2017 at her 9 month appointment (3rd percentile)

Length: 27.75 in. on April 21, 2017 at her 9 month appointment (58th percentile)

Clothes: Cece's our petite little girl...still wearing 6 month & 9 month clothes as well as size 2 diapers

Eating: It blows my mind that Cece has gained less than 1 pound in 5 months (from her 4 month appointment to her 9 month appointment) because it seems like she is constantly eating!  She hasn't refused any kind of food we've given her and she loves table food.  She eats a combination of baby food (either spoon fed or a pouch) and table food.  Some of the new foods she tried this past month were raspberries, tortellini, tilapia, strawberries, blueberries, green beans, veggie burgers, eggs, grapes, peanut butter, and chicken.  She still nurses 2-3 times/day and takes a bottle 1-2 times/day (depending on what day it is, Todd will sometimes have to give her a bottle first thing in the morning if I have to get to work and she gets a bottle mid-morning at my parents').  We dropped the bottles down to about 4 oz. because she was spitting up and it seemed like it was because she was so full (plus, she's starting to push them away after about 3-4 oz.) but the pediatrician told us to try to bump it back up to 5 oz. to get her to gain some weight.  Also, she wants us to try to give her more bottles vs. nursing (since I don't really know how much she's eating) so I might be only nursing her 1-2 times/day here soon.  I should have enough frozen breast milk though to last a couple more months.  Cece also eats 3 meals/day (breakfast around 8:00 AM, lunch around noon, and dinner around 6:00 PM) plus a snack in the afternoon (cheerios or puffs).

Sleeping: Luckily sleeping has always been one of Cece's strong areas (she obviously takes after her dad ;) ) and this month was no exception.  I think there was only one night when she woke up and we just put the pacifier back in and she was back asleep.  She still takes 2 naps/day: one around 9:00 AM and one around 2:00 PM (both b/w 1-2 hours long) and then sleeps all night from 7:30 PM-6:30/7:30 AM (depending on if it's a work day or not).  She always sleeps with a sleep sack and we're tried a few nap without it on and while it takes her longer to fall asleep, she eventually does.  I'm just thinking that she probably won't need it in the summer (Lucy was out of one by then) and she's definitely become dependent on sleeping with it on.  Also, I wonder if it's hindered her ability to roll over and move around more at night which is why she doesn't move as much during the day.  Probably not but it's just a thought.

Likes: eating, being outside, playing peekaboo, putting everything in her mouth

Dislikes: when she doesn't have any more food to eat, when "strangers" (family she hasn't seen for awhile) hold her

Milestones: first taste of ice cream (March 20), first visit with Easter Bunny (April 1), top left tooth popped through (April 8), first Easter (April 16)