Tuesday, December 9, 2008

On the growth chart!!

We took the girls for their 6-month appointment with the pediatrician today. That means shots - ugh. 4 of them, including the flu shot. They did fine - Olivia was a little fussy afterwards but she was also sleepy. I think they were asleep in the car before D got home with them.

And for their weights........Sofia weighs 12lb 1oz and is 24.5 inches long. That translates to the very bottom of the growth chart (1st percentile) but hey --- we'll take it! Ha - the first percentile may be a little generous, but we didn't argue. For length she's in the 8th percentile.

Olivia weighed 13lbs today and is 24.25 inches long. She a just a quarter of an inch shorter and a pound heavier than Sofia. The big little sister! That puts her in the 3rd percentile for weight and 5th percentile for length.

I know at the end of the day it is what it is, but for 6 months we've been hearing about not being on the growth chart and we're finally there!!!

The pediatrician also told us we could try to start giving them a sippy cup (and can give them some juice diluted with water - I was surprised at that) and we can also give them soft crackers or teething toast to chew on. We asked her if she was thinking about their adjusted age and how that would affect these things and she said when it comes to eating and drinking, she doesn't think it makes much difference -- other than they may be a little slow with the motor skills needed to get a cup to the mouth. The crackers and teething toast, and even a sippy cup with juice is more, at this point, for them to work on getting their hands to their mouths than anything else. They're working on that already since we've noticed that most things they get their hands on heads straight towards their face / mouth. So we'll see. I did watch Olivia this morning as I was feeding her --- I had taken her bottle out of her mouth because she wasn't really drinking and I put it upright in her lap and she got her hands on it and started bringing it back to her mouth while her mouth was open so I know she's making the connection.

Anyhow! Dr visit went well. She was pleased with their growth, head control, the fact that they are starting to bear weight on their legs ---- Olivia is all about standing up - these past couple of days she's figured out how to hold her weight. Sofia isn't as interested but she's showing signs of figuring it out.

Until next time!

2 comments:

Megan W said...

There is NO nutritional value to juice. It is all sugar. There is NO REASON whatsoever to train your kids' taste buds to like sweets. They will learn that on their own!

My kids get juice at birthday parties, and that's about it!

Formula meets all their liquid requirements for the first year of life unless they are out in extreme heat.

After that, we give milk with meals, and water in between. That's it.

Megan W said...

By the way, be careful with those biter biscuits. Twice, I had huge chunks break off and a kid choke. We had much better success with Gerber puffs as a first food.