Not So Chunky Monkey

In typical Mann family fashion, Gavin just had his 9-month well-baby visit...on his 10-month birthday!  Much to our surprise, we discovered that Gavin is not the little chunky monkey that we thought.  He is well above average in height, but slightly below in weight.  I never would have guessed since the boy seems to be a bottomless pit and will eat anything that he's offered (including peas!).  Between his relatively low weight and sunken fontanelle (a.k.a. "soft spot"), the pediatrician was slightly concerned about his fluid intake, particularly his dairy consumption.  So, at her suggestion, we recently introduced formula into his diet.  He now drinks 4 oz at every meal, in addition to his baby food (although he does eat fewer containers of baby food now). 

Gavin only received one shot during his appointment and he handled it like a trouper! I think Ryan was more upset about it than Gavin was. Ryan was such a great big brother, holding Gavin's hand and comforting him while he got the shot. Then, when we returned home, Ryan brought Spot and Monkey over to give Gavin "kisses" to make him feel better from the shot!

He is also slightly ahead of the curve in terms of teething.  He has 6 teeth, whereas the average baby his age only has 3.  Both boys have been early teethers.  Gavin is not quite as mobile, but is certainly trying to get around.  He did crawl a few paces this morning for the first time (4/23/10) to reach a ball that had rolled away from him.  Previously, he did the backward scoot or the army/belly crawl to get where he needed to go.  And, last week he pulled himself to a standing position for the first time.  He hasn't stood unassisted or "cruised" yet, but I suspect it's only a matter of time before he's toddling around.

Although I generally don't like to compare the two boys, I thought it might be interesting to see what Ryan's measurements were around the same age.

             GAVIN                                                                           RYAN

Height: 29 7/8 (80th)                                          Height: 27 3/4 (25th)

Weight: 20lbs,12oz (40th)                                  Weight: 20lbs (45th)

Head: 18 1/2 (80th)                                              Head: 18 3/4 (95th)

As I was looking for a picture of Ryan when he was around 9-10 months old, I stumbled across some bathtime photos of him that reminded me of a couple of pictures I had recently taken of Gavin.  Clearly, both boys love their bathtime!  They also brought back fond memories of the orange bat that accompanied Ryan everywhere for a period of several months! 

GAVIN

RYAN

BATH BUDDIES