9 month well baby

This week we had Gabriella's 9 month well baby appointment and her pediatrician is really happy with her growth and development! She is gaining weight and growing steadily and continues to get on the growth chart for her actual age, not just her adjusted age.

Her stats:
Weight- 15lbs 12 oz, this puts her in the 5% for 9 month olds, 30% for 6 month olds
Height- 27 1/2 inches, this puts her in the 10% for 9 month olds, 50th for 6 month olds

Developmentally, she is also catching up to her actual age. At 9 months old, pediatricians like to see that babies recognize their parents and familiar adults, recognize favorite toys, copies sounds and gestures, points at objects or people, watches things fall, plays peek-a-boo, puts things in mouth, moves things from hand to hand, picks up things with thumb and index finger, sits with out support, can get into sitting position, and has started crawling or rocking back and forth on all fours.

Gabriella is able to do most of these tasks! She certainly recognizes us and family, she has favorite toys, just this week has started to really understand the concept of peek-a-boo (who knew it was so complicated?? :)) and will pull a blanket over her eyes and remove it when asked, "where's Gabriella?", she will put things in her mouth and sits with out support.

Her physical therapist has given us some good tips for encouraging crawling and she is also just starting to try and get herself up into sitting position independently. She hasn't quite figured out how to do it yet, but we can see her mind working!

This puts her at just about 1-1 1/2 months delayed developmentally instead of 3 which is just amazing to us. We certainly put a lot of effort into helping her grow but Gabriella's personality has really helped her thrive and catch up. She is headstrong and determined, gets frustrated when she can't do something, and is so observant. These traits will probably drive us crazy as she gets older, but for now, it's pushing her along!

xo,
Mary