Nine months (and four days)

Bean has now existed outside of the womb longer than in. I must honestly say that the pregnancy went by faster than his life so far. Make of that what you will. However, he is much cuter now.

VS

We saw the pediatrician for his well baby visit this afternoon. He is 28" tall (45th percentile) and 17 lbs 15 oz (10th percentile) with a head circumference of 45 cm (50th percentile). Because he's slipping in the weight category, we talked about ways to get him more fat in his diet. Unfortunately, that doesn't involve me eating more ice cream and chocolate. He is also borderline on his iron levels, so we'll be starting a multi-vitamin. The doc is not concerned and said that overall he is looking fabulous, meeting his milestones and all that good stuff.

Other Bean updates:

• Crawling - Not really... but kinda. He launches himself forward from a sitting position, and he will either inch backwards until he ends up in a corner, or he'll do a few quick army-crawl maneuvers forward to reach a toy. Also, sometimes I will find him sitting about three feet away from where I left him, and I have no clue how he moved himself. Baby gates and drawer locks are standing by.


• Throwing - Isn't it hilarious to throw things on the ground? It sure is. Binkies especially. Luckily I keep my house impeccably clean so I don't have to wash them after each round of this frequent game. (Are you buying this?)


• "Talking" - This boy has a lot to say, although I'm not sure to whom. Most of the time it must be serious, judging by his furrowed brow and rapid arm flapping, although sometimes it is quite humorous and deserves an appreciative chuckle. I've told him it's impolite to laugh at his own jokes, but hey, funny is funny.


• Sleeping - For the past week, we have been blessed with a better sleeper. He wakes up only 1-2 times for a snack during his 12-hour night. This may not sound impressive to anyone else, but DH and I are beside ourselves with excitement. I'm still adjusting to the schedule, and I wake up frequently to check if the monitor is on. And if it is, I promptly turn it off. (Kidding, kidding...)


• Eating - We have discovered a few more Gerber varieties that appeal to the Bean Man, so I am no longer concerned that he's going to turn orange from all those sweet potatoes. He much prefers fruit to veggies, though, so the sweet potatoes still figure heavy in the rotation. We've also continued to introduce finger foods to him, and in turn Bean has continued to introduce them right on to Evey. They both get a kick out of that, though, so who am I to interrupt the antics of a boy and his dog.

Next stop: one year!

In other news, we've been busy preparing for the holidays. Seeing as though we'll be spending it by ourselves and we are pretty low-key people these days, that isn't incredibly difficult. In a mandatory show of Christmas spirit, we have started putting up lights on the house. So far all we have are some icicle lights, it's a work in progress. I bought some additional decorations, but when I reached for the credit card at the store, I couldn't help but think that taking the "scrooge" fine from the homeowners association would have been cheaper, easier, and from the looks of our house so far, less embarrassing.

We also went to see the Zoolights at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium on Saturday. DH and I had a wonderful time, the display was awesome and it was a great night to be outside before the rainy season sets in (which it seems to have happened this morning). I'm not really sure Bean enjoyed it as much as we did, but as he can't walk or talk yet, it was easy to ignore our selfishness at dragging him around the zoo on a cold evening. He had the same blank expression on for most of the outing, as you can see from the picture below. I wish I could say he was staring in amazement at the lights, but this is how he looked in the parking lot.

Well, time to go... I hear hiccuping through the baby monitor so I'm guessing nap time is over.