Jacob's 9-Month Check Up

Jacob had his 9-month check up yesterday. I am pleased to report that we had an easy--and perfectly healthy--visit! Little man has dropped off a little in the height and weight department (he's now in the 25th percentile for both), very much like his big brother did. Jakey now weighs 18 lbs, 15 oz. and is 27 in. long. He's still gaining and growing, but not quite as rapidly as he has been up until now. (I think he gained only a little more than a pound and an inch over the last three months. Of course he did get pretty sick in the middle of that three months...) Even though he still looks a little chunky to me, it's looking like Jacob is going to be on the skinny side--like his brother. Just to make sure he's not just having trouble gaining weight, we're going back in next month so his pediatrician can do a weight check. There was only one thing about Jacob's visit that made me a little nervous. Dr. Hoving checked his eyes once during the visit (like always), but before she got up to leave she grabbed the flashlight and checked them again. I asked if his eyes were okay, and she told me they were fine, but Jacob has a condition (I can't even tell you what the medical term for it is) where one eye appears to turn inward--though it really doesn't. The doc can tell that his eye is normal because the light is symmetrical on his eye, so the whole inward thing is just an illusion at this point. She said as he grows the problem should correct itself. But if it doesn't (or if I notice that his eye looks like it's going inward all the time) he could possibly develop a lazy eye. It's nothing to worry about now, but it is something we need to watch out for.

Jacob is up to six teeth now (4 on top, 2 on bottom), with more on the way. He is eating a wide variety of foods now--including more table food. He loves toast, cheerios, mac & cheese, animal crackers, banana pudding, and even some chicken! (Yes, we're starting to add meat to his diet now!) He's not too wild about scrambled eggs; mostly he just picks at them. Whereas Jonathan is our picky child (about the only thing I can get that boy to eat well these days is peanut butter & jelly sandwiches), Jacob is a little more open to trying new things. Hopefully he won't be as much of a picky eater. We're also trying to get Jakey used to the idea of drinking from a sippy cup. He got so grabby with Jonathan's cup that I went out and bought him a couple of transition cups. I try to give him a little juice a couple of times each day. He mostly just plays with his cup--if he acknowledges it at all. But I'm hoping he'll move to a sippy cup faster and easier than little Jon did.

The boys are getting to the point where they are actually starting to play together. Jonathan is still not too big on sharing, though. I've got my work cut out for me, I guess. This summer I'm also going to try to "homeschool" Jon a little bit. We've got a new Christian bookstore in town that sells materials to help parents work with their kids on things like the alpahebet and numbers and colors...I think I'm going to try and sit down with him and see how far I can get with that. He can already count to 5, and he can tell you how old he is; he can even recognize a few letters of the alphabet. As far as his colors go, I still don't know which ones he can actually see and which ones he only has memorized. (We still don't know to what extent--if any--he's color blind, and we may not know for sure for a couple of more years. And we get to go through all of this again with Jacob!) John and I are still talking about the possibility of preschool for Jonathan. He also starts AWANA in the fall, and Vacation Bible School is only a month away. I want him to be able to actually "do" the things other kids his age may be doing.

The boys were also supposed to have their first official sleep-over this weekend. John and I are going to Midland next month for John's brother's wedding, and my parents offered to keep the kids. The only problem is that we're going to be gone for two nights and three days--so my parents would have them all weekend. They've never spent the night away from home before, and we're not sure how they'd do. This weekend was supposed to be a trial run, with my parents having the option to call us if the boys are having a hard time getting through the night. However, both my dad and John are sick right now, and passing germs back and forth is probably not the best idea. My dad is going back to Israel on Tuesday, and we really don't want him getting sick while he's over there. If we're still going to do the trial run overnighter before we leave for the wedding, my mom may be going at it alone. (BTW, neither John nor my dad appears to have the swine flu--or any other flu for that matter. Both cases sound suspiciously like food poisoning.)

Anyway, I think that just about covers everything that's been going on with us here lately. It's time once again for me to handle the lunch rush around here and get the boys ready for their naps. Until next time, lots of love and hugs and best wishes!