Yesterday, Caden turned 9 months old - on the same day that I turned 32 (years, that is)! I tried to find a sticker for me to wear, but they don't go up that high. So instead you'll just have to settle for Caden by himself.
Today I took him for his 9 month check up. Here are the results of our visit - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
Caden is growing! He is now:
19.9 pounds (30% - seriously?!?)
28.5 inches (55%)
Head circumference - 18 in (60%)
She also noticed that that his bottom gums are very swollen and she expects a tooth to pop through the bottom anytime now. She thinks the top ones are still a ways out, but the bottoms one(s) should be here anytime.
The Bad
While is Caden is growing like a weed, and his motor skills are doing well, the doctor is a little concerned about some of his other development. She seems a little worried about some of the things he's not doing in the areas of communication, problem solving, and something else I can't think of right now - things like knowing I'm "mama", waving bye-bye, handing me a toy when I ask for it, and trying to get a Cheerio that's inside of a bottle. She thinks he's fine, but just to be on the safe side, she's referring him to Early Intervention Colorado. Eventually, if necessary, we may take him in for a more in-depth evaluation. They'll check his hearing, eyesight, and determine whether he really has some developmental delays or whether he just didn't like performing the tasks I was asking him to do or if we were too hard on him when we were filling out the evaluation. Maybe I marked "sometimes" when I should have marked "yes?" Maybe his problem-solving abilities are fine, he just doesn't try to get the Cheerio out of the bottle because he is distracted by trying to eat the bottle?
She also recommended that we take him to an eye doctor to check out his eyes. He has a rather large bridge (that's from me!) and it's hard to tell if both of his eyes are tracking the same because his bridge gets in the way!
We also have to go back in in a month for a growth check. The size of Caden's head has grown significantly since 6 months (it increased by 30%) and she wants to make sure that it doesn't continue to grow that rapidly. So...the plan is that in a month we'll go back in, check his head size, discuss his development, and then (hopefully!) laugh that we even thought he was delayed!
The Ugly
Well, that's what I looked like on my way home. I was doing, as Oprah calls it, the "ugly cry."
I know he's going to be fine. Even the doctor said she's sure he's fine. He's happy, smiley, and social. She said that the kiddo described on the questionnaire I filled out and the one she saw crawling around her office were not the same. In my heart, I know he's perfect, but still...no one wants to hear that their baby isn't perfect.
One day he'll be graduating from Harvard and I'll be laughing about this!
We'll call this one "helping"
Having playdates - these are Caden's friends Sophia and Ayden Sidwell. They just turned a year in Jan. Everyone is still in their jammies because we had a breakfast playdate.
