Oh, Baby

Today was Hayley's 9-month check-up (she'll officially be 9 months tomorrow), which means I can no longer say, "It took 9 months to put this weight on; it will take 9 months to take it back off!"

She weighed 21 lbs., 3 oz. (85th percentile), gaining about a pound a month from her 6-month visit. She measured 28 and 3/8 inches long (77th percentile), adding another 2 inches from the last time. The doctor said she is healthy and happy and right on target developmentally. And no shots this time, so it was a good visit!

She is almost crawling - still scooting backwards and in a circle, but yesterday she made a couple of moves forward before collapsing. Mark and I think she'll be crawling by the end of the week. Also, over the weekend, she finally learned how to sit up from a laying down position. No more crying when she gets stuck on her stomach or back like a stranded turtle! The doctor said girls are usually a little bit slower than boys at motor skills, tending to focus on their verbal skills first. And she does babble like crazy!

The pediatrician group we belong to has 7 doctors in their main office, then they rotate down to the office we go to - a different one each day. Between the hospital, well visits and 2 sick visits, we have now met all 7. I wanted to get a feel for all of them before we started seeing one or two exclusively, plus it seemed like a good idea to meet all of them anyway since you never know who you'll get for a last-minute sick visit. I really liked the doctor we saw today, Dr. M. He was great with Hayley and I didn't feel rushed at all (especially since we were the first appointment of the day). Her 6-month visit back in March was a disaster. We had a late afternoon appointment and the doctor was 45 minutes behind by then because of an emergency. When we finally got in to see her, she had a pediatric resident who was following her around all day and our visit was very rushed. I felt like I didn't have time to ask the questions I usually ask and I was tired and frustrated by the time we left the office. So right now I think we'll rotate between Dr. M and Dr. C, who we met in the hospital when she was born and also saw for two visits, whenever we have to make an appointment.

As soon as I get on the ball here and upgrade my blogger service to the next level, I will post some pictures. I know you're dying to see how cute she is!