the average baby

first off, this is the last day before sean heads out on his trip. and to say goodbye, I came home last night to find a brand new garden claw on the front porch. thank you, sean. first I had to make sure, though, that it was for me, and wasn't going to be some sort of prop for the trip. "yo, did you see that guy's gauntlets??" "yeah, but wait till they get a load of my GARDEN CLAW."

so anyway, today we took bella to the doctor's for her 6 month checkup and myriad needles. since we had cut her antibiotic treatment short, we were a little afraid that she'd still have some raging ear infection or something equally our fault, but thankfully, the doctor said she was fine.

bella has quite a few doctors. it's a practice of about 6 doctors, and though you can choose to see the same one every time, we often like to change it up. partially so that we become familiar with all the doctors in case there's ever an emergency and our favorite isn't available, and partially because we haven't especially liked any of the doctors yet. today we saw dr. jayraj again. he's our favorite so far, but that's not saying that much. he's a nice man, gentle, and when he says things that should make my blood boil, he says it in such a way (with his heavy indian accent) that I don't seem to get as mad until after the fact. like today, when he asked me yet again if I went back to work and how I shouldn't have if I did.

so dr. jayraj said that bella was fine to get her shots today, so she did. poor thing. she cried more than usual, probably because she's thinning out.

when we first brought her home, and for the first month, she was in the 90th percentile for height and weight. that means that she was heavier and taller than 90% of babies her age. she moved down to 75th percentile in the months that followed and stayed there. however, today, at 15 lbs 8 oz and 25.5" tall, she's just shy of the 50th percentile. not that I care if she's heavier or lighter than other babies, but I was concerned that she was so drastically different this time than last time.

the doctor and nurse told me it was likely because she's more active, burning more calories. if that is the case, I plan to buy myself a high chair and throw mardi gras beads on the floor over and over again so I can get rid of my love handles finally. and I think her slowed weight gain is also because she doesn't eat solids yet.

(sidenote: remember how she had her first applesauce yesterday? well, it came out the other side this morning. and holy hell, it sure stunk. sean kept saying "breathe through the mouth. breathe through the mouth.")

when we asked dr. jayraj if there was anything we could do to make her like formula more, he suggested trying soy and to keep offering it to her over and over until she takes it. thanks! I was hoping for something more like "spin around 3 times, repeat the phrase 'prowie hates the wino' while shaking the bottle, and blink every 4 seconds while feeding her, and she will definitely eat the formula. we only give this information to people who ask for it." he sent us on our way with a prescription for vitamins and eye drops, as he wants to supplement her vitamin intake and keep the goop out of her eyes. (this morning, they were glued shut again.) so that'll be great - trying to get her to take the vitamins and putting drops in her eyes 3 times a day.

the highlight of the visit, for bella, was the scale/bed that she was laying on the entire time. because it is covered with wonderful, crinkly, rippety PAPER. she just laid there on her back, hands at her sides, grabbing and crumpling the paper over and over again. and when she realized she could pull it up on one side to get more of it in her hands, well, she was in heaven. (until those 4 pesky 5" needles plunged into her thighs.) we ought to get some of that paper...it doesn't fall apart as much, it doesn't rip as much, and it crinkles well, because it is like wax paper only not so waxy. we'll get a roll of it and call it "the babysitter" since we could have walked out of that exam room and right back home and not had to worry about her getting upset or cold or anything. nothing existed to her but her binky and that paper. I wish I had a binky and some paper to enthrall me that much.

and tonight is science fair night. last night, in an effort to make the trifold look a little better, and to get out of cooking again, I offered to buy all the same foods that were totally moldy in the containers in our basement so we could take a "before" picture. (even though mason "did" take one. I don't believe him.) so I had mcnuggets and a cheeseburger, trent had a quarter pounder, we all shared fries, and sean had a filet o fish and a big mac. we put them all together and took a lovely photo and then trent and I trekked around trying to find a place to go that took our memory stick so we could print out a picture. on the night before it's due! go figure!!

mason is in charge of the second trifold which is supposed to contain all the pictures he took of the food as it got moldy. I am guessing that it's going to look like crap and that trent will be upset.

we'll see.