Operation: Fat Baby

So baby weight percentiles aren't something we should live by. In fact, I think they're similar to BMI for adults. They both provide good measures, but is 5th percentile for Kaylani really bad? And is a BMI of 28 really bad? I don't really know the answer, but I do know that when my BMI was 25, I lost 18 lbs in a month (and 30 lbs overall) so I could have a BMI of 24 because my doctor told me to. And since I listened to the doctor for my own health, you bet I'm going to listen to the doctor for Kaylani's.

Even though Kaylani is completely being in the 5th percentile, we've embarked on Operation Fat Baby. Today, Mommy hit the grocery store for a 6 pack of YoBaby yogurt and cottage cheese. Mommy was also motivated enough to start making Kaylani's food again, which meant we got to dust off the Baby Beaba for the first time in 3 months. So for dinner, Kaylani had plain boiled white rice and chicken, blended to some gross looking gooey substance, and then mixed with 2 oz of Gerber carrots. End result? Kaylani LOVED it. She wolfed down approximately 4 oz of the mixture with no problems.

Now the other thing Kaylani's doctor told us was to keep feeding her until she gave us clear signs that she was full. To make sure, we put an empty spoon near Kaylani to see if she would open up, and sure enough, she ate a spoonful of air. That meant it was YoBaby time. Apple YoBaby to be exact. For once, we were both thrilled to try her food since we've done so with everything else she ate. We were surprised when it tasted delicious, like apple pie! It also made us wonder when was the last time we had regular yogurt instead of some fat free or 99% fat free diet yogurt thing.

Anyways, Kaylani loved her apple yogurt. She loved it so much that she wanted more. Mommy was a little afraid to be stuffing her this much, but when Kaylani opened up for her 2nd spoonful of air, Daddy cracked open the 2nd 4 oz container of Apple YoBaby Yogurt. This time, Kaylani ate about 3 oz of it before she finally pushed me away. 11 oz of food tonight is what Kaylani ate. In addition, she also had a little bit of water, a Earths Best teething cracker, and a taste of my beer (which she grabbed forcefully from my hand before I had a chance to stop her...kinda).

Tomorrow, we'll try it again. We're not exactly sure if she'll eat regular baby food any more since she turned down breakfast and lunch after tasting yogurt for the first time yesterday, but we'll see. If not, I guess we'll have to stock up on more fatty foods and start to cook her real people food from now on. Operation: Fat Baby may just turn into Operation: Empty Wallet, but at least it will be for a good cause.

Just like Mama

Today was Kaylani's 9 month checkup. It's almost 3 weeks after her actual 9 month birthday, but due to vacation schedules (ours and Kaylani's doctors), we had it now. We were actually okay with the delay since we though we could fatten Kaylani up a little bit more before her official weigh in. We were wrong.

At Kaylani's 6 month check in, she was 35th percentile in height, 21st percentile in weight. While that's not terrible (and percentiles are likely adjusted for bigger babies), we wanted her to be more closer to average. Well this month, Kaylani was way above average...in height. She measured in at 28.5" tall, or in the 76th percentile in height which is great. That means she'll be tall like her Mommy. On the other hand, she only weighs 15lbs 15oz, which is in the 5th percentile, or not even close to average. While percentiles don't mean anything really and Kaylani is perfectly healthy, she's still a skinny little girl, just like her Mommy.

Her doctor gave us strict orders to fatten her up (okay, they weren't so strict but she suggested we stuff her silly to put some meat on her bones). In addition to the 20-24oz of baby food she gets now, we're supposed to give her yogurts, cheese, cottage cheese, things with cheese melted on them, cottage cheese with melted cheese and yogurt drizzled on top, and pretty much any food that we're eating as long as it's not honey, chocolate, nuts, dairy, or a few other things that I can't think of right now. Sounds great! The question is whether or not she'll eat any of it.

Tonight we tried yogurt for the first time and she seemed to enjoy it (banana sweet potato yogurt from Sonia). She also had 4oz of her own baby food, and a piece of bread that she ripped into little pieces, smushed into balls, and threw on the floor while occasionally eating a bite here or there. Tomorrow we'll try yogurt again, maybe some cheese, and probably some cottage cheese too (gross). The best way to fatten her up would be to get her on formula, but since she's still not good friends with her bottle, I guess we'll just stuff her full of any food we can. And if that doesn't work, then I guess she'll just stay tall and skinny...just like her mama!