9 month check-in and a few new firsts

Miri had her 9 month check-up with Dr. Esser this week. It was a really nice appointment in that she didn't get any shots! Yay! Miri is now 26.75 inches long(not sure of percentile, but somewhere between 25th and 50th) and weighs 14 lbs 11.5 oz (5th percentile). So she's still a lightweight (no surprise there!) but she's sticking to her own growth curve, and the doctor has no concerns with her weight or growth. She gained 1.5 inches and 1.5 lbs exactly since her last appointment! The developmental survey we filled out indicated she either advanced or right on track in all areas, so she's doing great there. She's in perfect health with no concerns. We got the all-clear to start introduce lumpier purees(Stage 3) and table foods cut into small finger food sized pieces. The only foods we have to steer clear of are honey (because of botulism risk) and the highly allergenic foods (shellfish, nuts and nut butters, egg whites).

Miri's had a few new firsts within the last few days. On Friday, she started pointing at things. The speech pathologist in me gets all excited about this new stage of establishing joint reference! On Friday when I picked her up from daycare, Miri patted me on the face to get my attention, and then pointed directly to one of the new sun decorations hanging from the ceiling in her classroom. And then on the way into the house, she pointed at a bird on the lawn! She is pointing to all sorts of stuff around the house, especially things that are up high that I'm not sure she ever really noticed before-- the pictures on the walls, the clock, the thermostat, etc. This provides her speech pathologist mommy with ample opportunities for auditory bombardment and labeling! :) After being given the all clear for table food at the doctor's, Miri tried a few table foods on Saturday. She had part of a banana for breakfast-- sliced into "coins" and then quartered. She did GREAT! No gagging or retching, and she loved it. We went to lunch at a gourmet pizza bar with my parents Saturday afternoon, and Miri got to try 3 new foods there-- little tiny pieces of sweet potato fries, teeny pieces of soft pizza crust, and a few little shell macaroni noodles (from our uber-delicious mac-and-cheese pizza). All of those foods were huge hits! Miri continues to work on new oral motor skills too. SHe's been really into sticking her tongue out lately, and now today she's been practicing lip rounding and blowing/whistling. It is so much fun to see her growing and constantly learning. She is like a little sponge!

Lastly, a quick note that the Bashaw family has officially started our home search! We had a home buying 101 meeting w/ our dear friend Jennifer's mom, Kathy. It was so gracious of Kathy to take over 2 hours of her time on a Monday night to share her knowledge with us. We talked finances, avoiding frequent home buyer mistakes, building vs buying options, etc. It was so informative and made us feel much more knowledgeable when we went into our next meeting, which was with our realtor (recommended to us by Kathy) on Friday. Our realtor seems like a good match for us and she knows the area quite well. She has set us up with an MLS search account, so Jason and I spent several hours last night going through the MLS listings in our target price range for Germantown and Menomonee Falls. We are eager to get looking with Mary (the realtor). On Saturday we met with the loan officer and initiated our mortgage pre-approval. He was impressed with our "financial report card" so to speak and said he wished all potential buyers were in our shoes. Yay us! Our hard work of savings and being responsible seems to be paying off. So hopefully we'll be in our first home by fall! Keep your fingers crossed, and we'll keep y'all in the loop!