November 9, 2009 - Hurricane Ida

Grace went to the doctor today and we learned, in a big shock!, that she has gained almost no weight in the last two months! This is not good! She weighed 7 kg at 6 months+2 weeks old and today, at 8 months+2 weeks old, she weighed 7.1 kg. I made them weigh her on 3 different scales because I couldn't believe it! This is a baby who likes fruits and vegetables, and eats them well. But apparently they have not been enough for her to put on weight. We will change our feeding strategy and give her cereal with every meal instead of just once a day; we'll start giving her whole grain pastas, rice, and bread as well. And we'll load her up on avocados! Calories, calories, calories! The doctor basically said she is clear to eat anything but nuts, honey, and eggs...so we'll feed her a bit more like we feed ourselves, just all soft and mashed, of course. I have to say I have been very bummed about this all day because her being underweight (she is now less than 10th percentile for weight) seems like an accusation that I have been doing something wrong in the feeding department. I'm sorry, Grace, and I'll try harder to help you put the weight on! She did grow a couple of centimeters, so she is still 50th percentile for height. It seems to me that she would LOOK a lot skinnier if she is 50th for height and 10th for weight, but she still has those chubby cheeks and thighs! Maybe she is just a baby with a high metabolism? I mean, it is not like Kristoffer and I are the biggest people, right? The doctor supports breast-feeding until we are ready to stop (at 1 year or later) but I suppose if she continues to not gain weight then maybe we would need to reconsider our no-formula policy. I'll keep you posted on that, and in the mean time if you have any suggestions for helping a baby gain weight - please pass them on!

In other news, we got an update on "the-housekeeper-formerly-known-as-Ida" yesterday. Our friend learned from her housekeeper that Ida got a job at another compound on our street as the nanny for two American children. This is the kind of job she wanted - no cooking or cleaning! - and I am sure she is much happier than she was with us (and hopefully isn't stealing from her new employers). We also heard that Ida came to our compound to visit her housekeeper friend but our guards wouldn't let her in because we gave them strict orders not to! So her friend had to visit with Ida outside the gates of our compound. This is the first time that I think the guards have really listened to us! But, of course, we had heard before that they didn't really like Ida because she was rude to them to begin with, so maybe they had an ulterior motive for keeping her out. Anyway, when I read in the news that there was a hurricane named Ida out there, I wondered if the person who named the hurricane was a reader of our blog?!

LMW