We are all in love with Elliot's pediatrician, Dr. Ruden. And Dr. Ruden is in LOVE with Elliot. Every visit he smothers Elliot in kisses. His neck, his back, his tummy, his cheeks, Dr. Ruden kisses and kisses and kisses and says, "Oh, delicious flesh!"
This week Elliot had his 9 month well-baby visit. Surprisingly, while he might look like a giant in the baby scale, he still hasn't broken the 25 pound mark. Elliot weighed in at 24.3 pounds. Seems his weight gain has slowed down dramatically. But never fear, he is healthy, healthy, healthy!
Elliot and Dr. Ruden love each other.
The pictures of Dr. Ruden his office go way back. So much fun to look at. The black-and-white one says it's from medical school in 1976. He told us he takes his granddaughter to the children's museum twice a week. What a lucky girl!
Just before this visit, we were sent a developmental questionnaire to fill out on Elliot and return to the doctor for us to go over at his appointment. It was so fun to look at all of the new things he has learned to do. Some of our current favorites:
- Holds one toy in each hand and taps them together
- Crawls (luckily he's still pretty slow)
- Holds onto the straps on the bouncy seat and pulls himself up (Andrea calls this his rodeo trick)
- Says "baa, baa, baa," "maa, maa, maa," and "daa, daa, daa"
- Imitates you when you stick your tongue out or blow a raspberry
- Drops his hard toys on the floor over and over to hear the sound they make when the crash (and sometimes chuckles at it)
- Laughs at the Kitchenaid mixer every time he sees it, whether it's in use or not
- Prefers to eat finger foods
- Likes to sit on the soft bed and throw himself backwards, always landing with his arms out and a big smile on his face and laughing (not quite the same response when he tries it on the kitchen floor, though)
- Loves, loves, loves to give hugs
It took him 9 months to grow big enough to be born and another 9 months to learn how to hug. I can't wait to see what the next 9 months will bring!
