9 Month Appointment

The stats are in...Ellison was 15 pounds, 11.5 ounces (in between the 10th and 25th percentile) and 28.5 inches (right around the 90th percentile). She has now been around the 90th percentile for height since her 4 month appointment, and staying on the same track for weight for the last couple checks as well. Her doctor doesn't seem as worried about her weight now, she just thinks she will be tall and thin. Not the worst thing in the world!

Ellison now has the ok to eat "real" food! I'm a little (ok, a lot) stressed/anxious about trying to make sure she gets enough of the right things. It's so easy to just feed her some oatmeal or rice cereal and a little tub or pouch of baby food! I have no idea what to feed her now. The doctor said not to waste our money on the "3rd food" baby food, and just feed her what we eat. But I don't know if Jay and I eat healthy enough food to feed a growing child...I think I will be doing a lot of research on what to give her!

We were also told that we can start transitioning her to whole milk when she is 11 months old. Guess that means I need to start using up all the milk we have in our freezer! I have been exclusively pumping since Ellison decided to quit nursing when she was 6 months old, which has been a LOT of work. I had planned to breastfeed until she was 1, so I don't know how I feel about transitioning her off EBM before that. I think even though pumping can be an annoyance, I will miss that little bit of time that I get to myself every day!

We also had to fill out a developmental survey at the appointment. I didn't like it, because I realized Ellison can't do everything some babies her age can. We did get to check yes to most things though! The main area of discussion after the doctor looked over it was the verbal area. Ellison doesn't really clap, do "so big", etc. And she is constantly babbling and making noise, but she doesn't say any actual words yet. I guess we just have to work with her a little more on that stuff!

Overall, Ellison is doing great.  She recovered very well from her broken clavicle, she is growing and learning fast, and she has been a healthy little girl so far! No high fevers, no major illnesses, no issues with diaper rash...what a good girl! Hopefully she keeps it up. Her next appointment (with 3 shots, boo!) isn't until she is 1. No extra weight checks in between this time. Yay! My favorite part of the appointment was the doctor pointing out during her exam that Ellison is really flexible...my little future cheerleader!