Uncle Ben! Doctor visit! Food!

Nora's Uncle Ben came to visit on Saturday, and we all had a fun afternoon hanging out and playing with baby toys. Here is a picture of Nora and Uncle Ben having a blast bouncing around! She's wearing a cute outfit here that was a Christmas present from Uncle Ben and Aimee. I think the little cardigan is so sweet! And I think we all know how I feel about stripes for babies. :)

Nora's nine month well-baby visit was on Friday, and as usual she's doing great. (Except that it was technically not a well-baby visit, since she still has a little cold, but oh well.) Her stats are 22 lbs 6 oz and 28 inches, which brings her down to the 95th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height, from well over 100th for both. Though this means she's not keeping up with her previous growth curves, it's a normal time for a drop, as babies become more mobile. Also, since she's eating three meals a day of solid foods now, and nursing only 5-6 times a day, her body is trying to figure out how to process all those different sorts of nutrients. It's a whole different ball game now from the newborn days of lying around like a little half-baked muffin and nursing 14 times a day!

A bunch of folks have asked me about Nora's diet lately. She eats pretty much regular people food, with some baby delicacies thrown in for good measure. (Teething biscuit, anyone?) She started refusing to be spoon fed about 3 weeks after we started solids, and has exclusively fed herself ever since. A couple of days ago, though, I thought to try some organic maple-sweetened whole milk yogurt, and she'll usually let me feed her a little of that with a spoon, if she's got something else to focus on at the same time, like a ricecake or a bagel. We'd tried plain whole milk yogurt before, but it was emphatically not a hit. Looks like she's got her Mama's taste for maple already! Must be the gallons of it I consumed while she was in utero. :)

Here's what Nora had to eat today:

Breakfast: 1/4 of a fresh cantaloupe, 1 multigrain ricecake, ~2 oz maple yogurt, a couple baby handfuls of generic Cheerios.

Lunch: more Cheerios, about 1/2 cup of steamed broccoli florets, 4 dried apricots. I also offered her some chickpeas and some pasta, but she didn't want any of those.

Supper: a couple of handfuls of Veggie Booty, a spinach pancake, about 1/4 cup of baked beans, 3 dried prunes, and a teething biscuit.

She drinks water from her straw sippy with all her meals, and nursed 6 times today in addition to this food. She's a healthy little eater, and really enjoys the process - as evidenced by the shower that was necessary after her spinach pancake and baked beans for supper!

And finally, last but certainly not least,
Happy Birthday Aunt Emily!!!!
Nora can't imagine what it'll be like to be 22 (well, she can't imagine being 2 either). She can't wait to hear all about it when you come to visit next month!