10 Months Update

So this week we had both a home visit from Ruby's nurse and a trip to her pediatrician for her (late) 9 month check up. Both went very well, and I could not be happier. I knew generally that we were on track and Ruby was doing great, but it’s always nice to get reassurance from the professionals right?

For the Stats: Ruby weighs 18 pounds and is 28 inches long. This puts her between the 10th and 25th percentile for weight and between the 25th and 50th for length for a 10 month old. (For an 8 month old she was at the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th for length!) As always, the pediatrician asked if Ruby was stretching out her t-shirts with her big head. Ha ha! So thankfully she has been doing a great job growing.

Her nurse also evaluated her development and, much to my surprise, Ruby was on track for an 11 month old! So despite the fact she was 8 weeks early, she is actually month ahead of the game. That's my girl! During the evaluation, there was only one thing I wasn't sure that Ruby did, and that's to take an object in each hand and hit them together. I'd never noticed her doing that. So, the nurse gave Ruby two blocks, and the nurse took two blocks. The nurse hit the two blocks together, and immediately, Ruby looked down at her blocks and hit them together! I said, “Well... I guess she does that too!” The nurse was very impressed. She had made great strides in the last few months.

Ruby's pediatrician listened to heart and could not detect the murmur he heard at her 6 month appointment. He said it could be gone for good, but it is not unusual for them to come and go for the first 5 years of life. But still this is good news. He also was impressed with how great Ruby is doing. He asked us to again do a trial off of her reflux medication, Prilosec, and to commit to at least a few weeks before we give up. So far so good, and I hope we’re done with it for good this time! *Fingers crossed*

As always the doctor gave us new homework. We started reading lots of books last time to work on Ruby’s vocabulary. Now it’s time to start working on her comprehension. He said to make sure we’re talking to her all the time, narrating what we’re doing. He said that Grandparents are great at doing this, and parents should be too. He also said babies will start to mimic at this stage, so it’s a good time for games (like How big is Ruby? So Big!) and for songs that include hand motions that she can pick up on (like the Itzy Bitzy Spider). We should also make a really big deal when copies us with lots of praise. SOOOO… be prepared for two crazy parents talking to themselves and clapping all the time! This should be fun!