Day 275 - Nine Month Doctor Appt

This past Monday we had our 9 month doctor's appointment with the twins. We've been looking forward to this appointment because we were very curious about Emma's weight. It's obvious to any one's eyes and arms that Emma is heavier than Andrew, but none of us knew by how much. Lisa's guess was two pounds; my mom's guess was two to three pounds; my dad's guess was at least two pounds; and my guess was a large pony.

The first thing that always happens at the appointment is that the kids get measured and weighed. But I'll get back to those stats a little later.

Both Lisa and I really like our pediatrician who is herself a brand new mother. Each appointment ends up being a total of almost an hour because she let's us rattle off our stupid new parent questions and takes the time to listen and talk to us. And most importantly, I think she thinks I'm hot.

The doc told us that the kids are perfectly healthy and growing up quite nicely. Since we won't have another appointment until the kids turn one, she told us the main developmental highlights should be their ability to call us by our names (i.e. mama and Mr. Scott Ichikawa), being able to point and finesse their motor skills, and light household work like vacuuming and Swifter-ing. We were also given the okay to introduce actual solid foods to the kids, so we'll probably start that this weekend with small pieces of fruit, vegetables, and deep fried meats.

And now onto the kid's height and weight. Andrew was first up. He is 27 1/2" tall and 18 pounds and 2 ounces. And as for Emma, she is 28 1/4" tall and 20 pounds and 14 ounces. That makes her almost THREE pounds heavier than Andrew! No wonder that from lifting Emma up and down all the time that my chest is getting totally ripped (watch out Muscle Beach!). And although they aren't ridiculously that different, their differences within their particular gender is quite interesting. Look at the little graph below:
Notice how Andrew is in the 15th percentile for height and 20th percentile for weight; respectively, Emma is a whooping 83rd and 75th. I suppose the way this is going, there are several job opportunities for the kids in the future: Andrew can be a jockey and Emma a horse; Andrew can be a short-order cook and Emma an eat-everything cook; or Andrew can be a midget wrestler and Emma a sumo wrestler.

The bottom line is we are very happy to have two happy and healthy kids. I hope the kids will continue to be healthy for many years to come, but am a little more unsure about their happiness. Let's face it, once they start to read they're not going to be too happy about what I've written about them for the past nine months. Andrew's a monkey and Emma's a sumo wrestler? Oy. I better start editing some of these entries now...