9 months, 3 days.

Last night we decided to let him cry himself to sleep. He did, and then he slept for 12 hours. It was the most sleep he's gotten in a very long time. He didn't even wake up in the middle of the night. Tonight he cried for less time. I hope he sleeps all the way through again. It was also the most sleep both of us have gotten in a long time as well. Today we were all in a much better mood.

Just in time for his Polio shot this afternoon. Griffin weighed in at 23 pounds 8 oz, and is 30 inches (2 1/2 feet). The pediatric nurse practitioner said he looked great, and seemed very enthusiastic about us as parents. She did say we should give him rice cereal for iron, but he's getting iron in his formula, from me, and from some food he eats. He hates rice cereal, I'm not going to force him to eat it. She also said that we should give him some meat, so we're going to check out some of the level 2 meats.. stuff like ham and pineapple, etc. The level 1 meats smelled like cat food.. let's hope the level 2 is okay, so we don't have to puree our own chicken! She also cautioned against giving him finger food that was going to dissolve into big chunks and choke him; crackers, cereal, bread. This makes sense, especially since he has only 2 teeth, and can't really chew food. One other thing she did which shocked me was pull back his foreskin. I didn't know it was able to be pulled back yet, and nearly shot out of my chair. I practiced a bit with that at home afterwards.. it was weird. I mean, I know I clean him up every day, but somehow that was extra intimate, like an invasion. I looked down, and he was just looking up at me as if he hadn't noticed.

Next appointment is after his birthday, where he gets several shots, and a blood draw. Poor little weiner.

The affirmation was good for us. He's developing well, he's a beautiful, smart, happy child. Sometimes it takes other people to shine the light on what is right in front of you. Not that I didn't know that Griffin was amazing, I didn't realize that I was a good parent.

Be well,
Autumn