Yep, he’s nine months already!  And not walking…so, all of us who thought he would be…we’re wrong.  He’s close, though.  I’m thinking now maybe 11 months will be his point of walking.  He’s getting brave…letting go, standing for a few seconds, and then plopping on his rear.  Pull up.  Repeat.  And he thinks that is the coolest thing since sliced bread (which he doesn’t like…but that’s okay).

Here’s the stats:
16 lb 10 oz (3%, yeah, more on that in a second)
29 1/4 inches long (80%)
18 1/4 inches head (85%)

So, yes, if you follow his stats closely (you know, if you’re the grandparents), then you’ll notice a drop in his percentile on his weight.  I’m impressed that, even though he’s following Josiah’s growth track he didn’t here.  I’m actually glad.  I worried enough when Josiah lost weight between his six and ninth month. 

Dr. B was not too worried.  I told her eats three times a day, nurses four, and enjoys everything we can shove in his mouth.  And would prefer we do that quickly.  He also wants to be on the floor nonstop crawling and pulling and moving everywhere.  She was not concerned and didn’t feel we needed to be.  She just encouraged us to amp up his fats (no, that does not mean I can give him a steak but I can give him lots of butter, avocados and the like).  She also said that she would prefer to see a skinny baby that a fat one…way harder to deal with obesity than just healthy skinny eating.

I knew he was skinny and wasn’t really surprised to see a drop.  But a drop into the single digits was a bit surprising.  So, we are giving him lots of yummy healthy fats and letting him go until he gets full. 

And, a new fact, Dr. B said that studies have shown that infants introduced to peanut butter early on tend to not develop allergies from peanuts later.  And all you allergy worriers can go out and find the studies to prove otherwise….just reporting what the good doc had read recently. 

Grandparents, don’t freak out.  I can assure you he is on track for his development and we’re not starving him.  All my babies tend to get skinny when they get mobile and then “fatten up” a little when they start eating more table foods.

Now for some Bryant fun.  Bryant’s started doing these funny faces.  At first it was just random, now it tends to be when he’s in our arms and we have his food and are getting it ready for him.  Or when we sit down to feed him.  I think it’s because we say, “Oh, what are we having tonight?  Avocados and banana with squash…yummy” 

Apparently, Bryant was jealous from all the attention that Josiah got from his run in with the counter.  So, on Thursday, he got his turn in the limelight.  We were riding bikes (just near our house…no major excursions yet) and I had Bryant in the child’s seat attached to my bike.  I swerved to miss a stray preschooler and ever so slowly bumped into the curb.  I wasn’t going fast but fast enough to bump me off the seat and make me lose balance with the bike.  I couldn’t get the balance back in time to stop the bike from toppling.  Bryant and I both fell down.  He must have had his hand resting on his seat because he came up with a bloody left hand.  He had scraped off the skin of each of his fingers.  As I got him out of his seat, I noticed a little bump on his head.

When we got back to the house, we called all “the experts” and got opinions about whether he needed to be seen in the ER.  By the time we got a hold of all said experts and bandaged up his hand (yes, I was able to keep some bandages on it before bedtime), he was crawling, smiling, and climbing.  At that point, all experts agreed that he probably didn’t need to be seen.  So, we settled in for waking him every couple of hours to make sure he could wake up.

And since he’s not used to that, he decided on the third wake up to stay up.  For three hours.  Which taught us to let him sleep the rest of the night.

He is doing much better now!  His hand looks awful but it’s healing slowly and looks better than it did the night the deed was done.

And, yes, I’ve learned my lesson, no more biking with baby until he gets his helmet in (which I ordered the night of the accident).

Okay, so the pictures don’t do it justice.  You try and get an eight month old to hold still while you take pictures of his hands!

After this accident, we stayed mostly head and body injury free.  Unless you count Ace whamming his head on the top bunk one night, oh and…

…but hanging on quite tightly now!  Bryant getting more sure on his feet and able to hold on to things is keeping me from going into cardiac arrest.  When he first started pulling up, he’d just pull up and let go at random.  He’s also learning how to let go and sit down.  This face, above, is his “smile” now.  Ain’t he just the cutest thing???