Visit to the doctor

Henry's 9 month check up was today. Besides being hard to believe that he is 9 months, he is healthy and happy and thriving, and we couldn't ask for more. Weighing in at 18 pounds and measuring 30 inches, we have a long and lean boy on our hands (9th %ile and 92%ile respectively). Although the weight isn't necessarily exact; Henry was pretty squirmy on the scale. The doctor's appointment went well, but we had an extremely traumatic experience at the blood lab. I'll leave out most of the details, but suffice it to say Gabe and I were very upset. Poor Henry's finger was poked but the nurse couldn't get the blood in the vial and his arm had to be poked too. We feel the nurse wasn't very experienced with infants - she spilled blood on my pants as I was holding him, and Gabe and Henry's hands were covered in blood. Needless to say, Henry was a pretty vocal patient. Unfortunately, since they couldn't get a good sample, we have to go back. We will NOT be going to the same lab and will NOT be having the same nurse. To make Henry feel better, we took a long walk on campus this afternoon.

Henry is crawling all around now on his hands, and still pulling up on everything. He pushes a laundry basket like a walking toy - it is more stable for him at this early stage since it doesn't have wheels. He is babbling like crazy, and can't hardly move without making some kind of vocalization. In his food repetoire, he recently has added ground turkey, ground beef, cut up blueberries, peas as a finger food, and the traditional favorites. There hasn't been a food that Henry has rejected yet, but it definitely takes him awhile to get used to a new taste. He's learning to master the two-handed sippy cup - with a few dribbles down the chin still!

Henry would like to add: "wuh-wuh-ba-da".

*Today, we went back to have blood drawn -and a much more positive experience. Over in under a minute, with minimal crying, no blood spilled, some nice nurses and a sticker at the end. Brave boy, Henry.