Sunday, January 29, 2012

Coco's Ninth-Month Check & Weekend with Daddy

Coco had her nine-month check up last week and is doing great.  She is maintaining her supermodel trajectory -- she is 28 inches long (65th percentile) and 17.8 pounds (35th percentile).  She was very good during the appointment and quite fascinated by Dr. Rostek, keeping a close eye on him the entire time.  Of course, she was also fascinated by the door stop and the paper towel dispenser.

Coco's newest skills are clapping, shaking her head "no" (apparently she has picked that up but doesn't yet know what it means), pulling herself up to stand, and standing on her head.   Well, almost standing on her head. She puts her head on the ground and then looks backwards through her legs at the world upside down.  She thinks it's hilarious.  We have no idea where that came from.  I've tried to get a picture but she is completely distracted by cameras and phones.  Nothing is more interesting when she spots a camera or a phone and there is nothing she would rather do than get her hands on them.  Of course, that's inevitable when we put the "itsy bitsy spider" and "wheels on bus" apps on our phones.  
 
Ken has been traveling for work for the past week and Coco had a lovely five days with her babysitter Mari last week.  Coco lights up when Mari arrives in the morning and gets just a bit upset when Mari leaves in the evening.  There is a lot of hugging good-bye.  I'm not surprised since Mari plays and chats with Coco all day, which are two things Coco loves.  There is no similar reaction when I leave for work in the morning.  It's all about Mari at that point.  I'm told that I should be happy when a child loves her babysitter.  I keep telling myself that every morning and every evening.  (Actually, we love Mari and are glad to have her looking after Coco.)

Since Ken was gone this past weekend, Coco and I had a weekend of bonding time.  We had lots of play time, lots of chatting, a couple trips to the park and a few long walks.  I can play with the same baby toys only for so long before I have to get out of the house.  We wrapped up the weekend with dinner, a bath, and a bottle.  She passed out at 6:30 p.m.  Maybe after this weekend she'll be a bit sad to see me go to work tomorrow morning.  A dad can hope, right? 

"Gimme the phone!"

Swinging in the park with Daddy

A long walk with Daddy.  A bottle and a nap.