9 month check-up

Lela had her 9 month check-up last Friday (she's actually 9 1/2 months) and she's healthy and thriving!
THE STATS:

Weight: 17 pounds, 4 ounces 25%
Height: 26 inches 10%
Head circumference: 17 1/2 inches 50%

Those percentiles are UN-adjusted for her prematurity. She's definitely catching up to her peers! Well, she's not doing so hot in the height category but let's be honest....her short stature is probably less to do with being 7 weeks early and a little more to do with being my daughter. Sorry Lela!

Even better news, the pediatrician said that she's now totally caught up developmentally and he no longer needs to adjust her age. She's just like any other 9 month old! Well, she's cuter than the average 9 month old:
These days, Lela is crawling and pulling up on furniture. She's figured out when a person is still there, even when she can't see them (makes it hard to sneak out of her room at night). She's vocal and is developing her pincher grasp. She eats solid foods well (likes pears, apricots, sweet potatoes; dislikes intensely cauliflower) and drinks water from her sippy cup. I swear, she learns something new every day.

Lela certainly has come a long way. She was only 16 inches at birth. She's grown 10 inches - or 62% of her length! - in 9 months. That's more than an inch/month! And she started at 3 pounds, 10 ounces and is now up to 17 pounds. I can't even imagine how that translates into big-person measurements. She is even wearing 9 month clothes now! She wore the preemie and newborn sized clothes for SO LONG (like 5 months), and then she was in 0-3 size for another couple of months. Then, it's like she completely skipped the 6 month size clothes. She has a few in that size, but she outgrew them almost before she could wear them. Now, she's huge!

And for those of you rabid Lela fans out there (ahem, Shohreh), I've attached a video of Lela playing with a spatula and hanging out with Bella. Word of warning: this video is not action packed. Do not wait for a climax. It will not come. Just enjoy the lovely Lela in her natural habitat.