9 Month Checkup

We had Kat's 9 month checkup on Friday- she got a vaccine and was sick for about half the day- and I had a busy few days so I'm just now writing the update :)

She weighs 18lbs 13 oz (which is 50th percentile) and is 27 3/4 inches long (75th percentile)- I added those to her baby book today and she's actually holding steady at those percentiles for every visit. The only variation was at birth- her height was 90th percentile but she's evened out since then.

Our usual pediatrician was back from a very extended medical leave, so that's a huge relief for me- we love him, Kat loves him, and the nurses are so great- plus he is a big supporter of our parenting style- I would have hated to have to switch Pediatricians.

One of the other new moms at Kat's playgroup said her doctor lectured her that she'd have to let her son cry it out and she was so upset about it and didn't know what to do. Our doctor basically told me this- Kat has a persistent personality (a nice way to call her stubborn), letting her cry at night would do nothing more than make you a wreck and have her make herself sick- I guarantee it won't work. Just go in when she wakes up, pat her back, talk to her, and if you really feel she needs to nurse- go ahead- but try to avoid it if you can so that she learns gradually to eat during the day. (which is what we've BEEN doing) so that's awesome. He told me that Mother's Intuition means more than anything a doctor can tell you.

Is he not awesome? We love him, and so does Kat. I referred the mom who has the mean Pedi to him, and she's so happy. Well, I'm sure the other Pedi is not mean, but you need to have a Pedi that jives with your personality and parenting style.

I won't lie and say I never let Kat cry- I just don't ignore her at night when she wakes up scared. During the day- I let her cry quite often, especially when it's temper tears. When she realizes I won't give attention to bad behavior and tantrums she usually calms down or gets distracted and finds something better to do. Consequently- her tantrums have dropped from about 4 a day, to maybe 1 a day, sometimes none. The trick is telling the difference between the crying that happens because she's hurt/scared/lonely/hungry and the crying that happens because she didn't get her way. The trick- if there aren't any tears- it's usually temper.

I guess that we've really found our little niche, and as Tim said- You've really got this Mom Thing down :) for now anyway :)