I've had to resort to all methods of bribery and distraction to take pictures of this kid. Puffs, lights, songs, siblings, etc. You name it, I tried it. Photographing babies is hard freaking work!
I made zero attempts to measure the little miss. At Thea's last check-up their computer system was down, so I didn't have her percentages. They were mailed to me a few days later and she had dropped to the 28th percentile in weight. For a girl who was once in the 90th I was pretty surprised. We also were persuaded to get labs drawn because the pediatrician doesn't think too highly of me not giving Thea baby cereals (therefore not getting a lot of extra iron). I was hesitant because I didn't do cereals with the other two and they seemed to have turned out just fine, but I complied. Her numbers fell just below the normal range (normal is 10.5-13 I believe, her levels were 10.2), so they prescribed an iron supplement. However they wrote a script for 300% of an infants daily iron needs. Sounds a bit nuts to me for a child who barely missed the mark, not to mention she wasn't eating a ton a table foods yet, so we're doing our own thing. We're supposed to have her levels rechecked in a couple of weeks so we'll see.
Clothes are still 6-12 month or 12 months. There are some 9 month items that still fit, but for the most part they are too small. She can wear size three shoes, and the ones I just bought at Old Navy are 12-18 month. Still fitting in the size three diapers. The teeth count is still holding strong at six. I swore I could see some more coming in on top, but nothing has popped through yet.
Thea has started eating fair amount more of table foods. Ham, cheese, black beans and avocado seem to be the favorites. Actually yogurt melts are her jam, she goes nuts for those things, along with puffs. She will also eat sweet potato, corn, peas, banana, bread, occasionally asparagus and green beans. Honestly she might eat a wider variety if we offered, but we haven't been cooking a ton lately. I fed her some grilled chicken legs we had the other night and she was loving it. Blueberries still seem to the absolute most hated food in the universe. Why she hates them so much I have no idea, but she HATES them. She is still nursing the same amount, about 5-6 times a day. And she has figured out, for the most part, how to use the playtex straw cups.
I'm happy to report that Thea has occasionally started sleeping through the night. Granted through the night is 7:45am-5:45am and that is totally killing my morning run and shower routine, but I am more consistently getting long stretches of sleep and it is glorious. I've tried feeding her and putting her back in her crib, but everyone in our house is getting up around then (6:15 or so, early birds) and the sun is coming up and it just hasn't worked. Sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night, but if I feed her she'll go back to sleep. She generally takes two naps a day, each about two hours long. I more or less nurse her to sleep all the time. She CAN fall asleep on her own, but she is still just so pathetic about it, and that kid has me wrapped around her finger sooo...
Thea is starting to cruise more effectively, and girlfriend loves to use anything and everything she can as a walker. If she pulls up on something and it slides a bit she immediately has to test it to see if she can push it across the room. Stools, end tables, the pouf ottoman in her room, laundry baskets, they all regularly go cruising throughout the house. Thea has also taken a big interest in holding our hands and walking. For a bit there she would just plop down if we tried, preferring to just crawl to her desired location, but now she'll seek out your hands and try to steer you where she wants to go. She can walk holding on with just one hand, but the second she starts to stumble a bit, she reaches out with her other hand.
No words yet, but Thea is by no means a quiet baby. Right now she seems to say 'yay yay yay' or 'day day day' and occaionally 'da da da' on repeat. Yay yay yay is my favorite. She'll say ma ma ma and throw a few other sounds in there as well, but for the most part she sticks with the previously mentioned ones. You can tell that she is understanding more and more. She'll shake something if we say shake, or smack stuff together if we say bam bam. She claps when we say yay, and will sometimes wave when we say hi. If I ask her where her baby doll's eyes are, she looks to it's face. And she is starting to follow along when I sing 'If You're Happy And You Know It.' I can't wait until we hear some words. The girls are so curious to know what her first real word will be. Ryann of course is pulling for 'Ry Ry.' I can't remember what Elsie picked, but it is something absurd that will never happen.
Thea really is just such a happy baby. She is pretty quick to smile, and while she prefers Mommy, Daddy or Grammy to hold her, she is happy to flirt with anyone and everyone. She is adorable out in public. Only recently have I started taking her places more often, before I tried to run errands or do things when someone else could watch her, because she got tired quickly and doesn't like being confined when she is tired. Now she can stay awake for longer stretches without turning into a maniac. And she is so interested and curious about everything going on around her. My mom and I took her down the toy aisle at Target and I think her head about damn near exploded. So many things to see and touch and oh my gosh! It is the cutest.
Thea, watching you grow is so much fun, but some days I wish I could keep you my baby forever! Love you so much.