9 Month Appointment... 2 and 1/2 Weeks Late

I know, I'm usually a little late with Z's check-ups, but this one was way late. He had a GREAT check-up though. He weighs 18 lbs. 13 oz. (20th percentile) and is 28 inches long (50th). The doctor and I were good with that, since he started out a little on the small side anyway. They pricked his finger, and he didn't even flinch! His iron levels were through the roof (even without supplementation, Mama-1 Doctor-0. Since it had been a hard day and a hard week, I decided to bring him back to the office with me instead of taking him back to school. He was pretty happy about that.

We had a fantastic weekend, and I am seeing Z change right before my eyes! He's not fully crawling yet, but he's gotten pretty good at army crawling. On Sunday, he pushed up from his belly to sitting, and today he was sitting in his bed when we went to get him! He's getting better and better at pulling up to standing, too. He has several things he enjoys pulling up on (besides a person) like his diaper caddy on his changing table, very dangerous, I know. Also, he has started waving (sometimes). He occasionally waves with both hands, but I think he is getting it. Speaking of, whenever we are practicing something like standing, he says "I ga I ga," which I think means "I got it."

I am officially delclaring that he is saying mama with intention. I got confirmation on that from the doctor (because he did it while we were there). So, while baba was his first consonant sound, "Mama" is his first word, Mama-1 Baba-1. But who's keeping score?

We took Z to the pool on Saturday and Sunday. He didn't even have to warm up. He just went right in, and he started kicking his legs like crazy in his float. It was pretty adorable. We also kept him up way past his bedtime both days, which made me anxious, but he had no problem with it.

I have had several people, including my own family members look and Z and chuckle saying "why is his little nose yellow?" I knew that babies can turn yellow/orange if they are fed too many carrots, but Z really doesn't eat carrots that often. So that begs the question, why is his nose yellow? Well, according to La Leche League International, it could be carotenemia.

The condition is caused by ingesting a large amount of carotene, a nutrient most often found in human milk, carrots, squash, sweet potato, pumpkin, spinach, beans, egg yolks, corn and yams. Note that most of the foods listed fall into the "yellow vegetable" category. Cooking, mashing, or pureeing foods increases absorption of carotene (Leung, Alexander. Carotenemia. Advances in Pediatrics. 34: 223-248. 1987). Human milk is also full of carotene, and can even become yellowish or orange if a mother eats a diet high in the foods listed above. (LLLI)

Save a couple, that list is exactly what Z eats almost every day! What did I expect? I am going to try and change it up a bit though, so my little man won't be glowing! But, for those of you that are wondering that's why his little nose is yellow in pictures.

But, it makes him so strooong! I don't know where he got this from, but in between bites, he often raises up his arms and flexes his muscles as if to say, "look how strong I am."