Bailey had her 9 month well-visit a few days ago, and all went well. She's almost 28 inches long and weighs 19lbs. 5oz. She's in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Developmentally, she's doing great! The only thing her doc says we should work on is getting her to drink from a sippy cup. Easier said than done...
We've tried a sippy cup before. She knows how to hold it and to put the spout in her mouth. But she'd rather chew on it or play with it than drink from it. We tried water in the cup...she won't drink it. Tried juice...she won't drink it. We tried her formula in the sippy cup...also a no-go. Interestingly enough, she'll drink both water and juice from a straw or straight from the glass, but absolutely positively will not drink from the sippy cup. Any tips any of you may have are welcome! For now, I've just been filling the sippy with water and giving it to her with snacks and throughout the day to get used to having it around.
Bailey's just started to get on her knees and rock back and forth (a precursor to crawling, they say!). She's rolling all over the place and LOVES to stand, but crawling and walking seem to be on the back burner for her these days. I don't mind, though. A lot of people have asked me, "Aren't you worried that she's not crawling yet?" or "Aren't you excited for her to start walking?" My answer to both questions is a firm NO. Yes, I'll be thrilled for her when she starts crawling and walking. But am I worried that she isn't doing it right now? Not a bit. She'll do it when she's ready. She was born 6 days after her due date (a full 16 days after her original due date), and decided to make her debut just hours before I was scheduled to be induced. Just like her birth, I fully believe that she'll know when she's ready and when it's time, and she'll do it. And not a moment sooner. Besides, before we know it, she'll be all grown up. She's already growing before our eyes, and it seems like every day she grows just a little bit further away from being my baby...I'm not quite ready for that yet. I don't mind that she's not ready to crawl or walk yet. Just like I don't mind changing her diaper or giving her a bath or feeding her or waking up with her in the middle of the night...or any of the million other things I'm lucky to be able to do as her mother. I cherish it...all of it.
Whenever we see someone who we haven't seen in awhile, the first thing they ask us is whether or not Bailey is crawling/walking yet. There's a little girl who comes to the daycare who is a few days younger than Bailey, but is pretty much crawling. Sometimes I watch her and wonder when Bailey will do it. Sometimes I even get a little nervous (and, I'll admit, my competitive mommy spirit kicks in) that a child younger than her (albeit, only by a few days) is crawling. But then I remember the things that Bailey can do that a lot of other kids her age can't do yet. She started clapping earlier than most. She mastered the pincher grasp way ahead of the curve. She held her head up very early. I remind myself not to compare any of the kids, because they'll all do their own thing in their own time.
Yes, I sometimes worry that she isn't doing some things yet (unfounded fears, her doc says). But then she smiles at me, holds out her arms, and says "mama" and I think to myself, who cares? Let her stay my baby that much longer. Some day, she'll be running away from me instead of holding out her arms. She'll be scowling at me instead of smiling. And I'll be thinking back to these days when she was still "my baby" and wishing I could go back. Soon enough she'll crawl. Then she'll walk, and then she'll be running, and it's anybody's guess where she'll go from there. For now, I am wonderfully, perfectly content with her not crawling. I am wonderfully, perfectly content with her needing me. I am wonderfully, perfectly content with her.
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