Doctor update

I took James to the doctor yesterday, just for a general check up. There isn't a normal doctor's visit at this point in the UK - the next one isn't until 1 year (I think US babies go in a 6 months), but we hadn't been in a while and it was a good opportunity to ask a lot of questions. The doctor was "delighted" with James. Said he is growing very well, all of his developmental points are right on track, and he seemed like a very happy baby. Which is he is of course!

Here are James's vital stats, at the 8-month mark:

9.2 kilos = 20.3 pounds (a little higher than the 50% percentile)
70 centimeters tall = 27.6 inches (right at the 50% percentile)
46 centimeters head circumference = 18.1 inches (75% percentile)

And here is what the doctor said in response to my questions, in case anyone else is interested :) I know there are LOTS of opinions about most of these things, and often times no "right" answers, but according to our doc:

• James only needs about 17 ounces of formula a day now - we had been giving him 21 ounces, but he wasn't always finishing the bottles and he spit up a lot after eating at 3:30 (probably because he was too full!). Now we do 7 oz in the morning, 7 at night and just 3 or 4 at 3:30 (in addition to his real "meals"). I tried that yesterday and it worked well. No more spit up, yay! This amount will continue until 12 months, when it can be reduced to 12 ounces total
  
• We still need to sterilize bottles, but not anything else (like cutlery, etc) - mainly becuase the bottles hold milk, which can go bad easily, and they're not always washed out immediately after being used. Should continue to sterilize until 1 year
• Really the only foods that James can't have at this point are eggs and real dairy milk - not until 1 year. He said honey was ok, but I think we'll still steer clear of that until 12 months
  
• He said it was ok for James to continue to drink his milk out of a bottle (rather than a cup) until he was a year or year and a half
• I mentioned that James doesn't like to drink water, so we're going to try water plus a little juice - we'll give that to him in a sippy cup to try and get him used to it. Right now, he loves the sippy cup, but only becuase he can chew on the end. Not actually for its drinking purpose.
  
• I guess there's a debate going on right now about nuts and how soon kids should (or shouldn't) have them. One side thinks that nut allergies are on the rise and becuase of that kids shouldn't have any nuts until they're 2 or 3. The other side thinks that nut allergies are on the rise precisely for that reason - becuase kids aren't being exposed to them early enough so their bodies aren't used to them. There are some cultures where peanuts, etc are eaten from a very early age and they have almost no incidents of nut allergies at all. I tend to fall in the latter camp, and our doctor agrees. Although a major study to try and answer this question one way or the other is currently underway
  
• The topic of crawling came up too - lots of people and articles say this is an important step that shouldn't be missed developmentally. Our doctor doesn't agree with that and says that crawling is the only thing that it's actually ok to skip. I think James will end up crawling first so it won't be an issue, but it's always interesting to hear where people fall in this argument. As of this morning, J was pushing himself up on all fours and kind of rocking forwards and backwards. He can take about one step, then collapses on his tummy and pulls himself around. We're very close... which means gates, cabinet locks and padded corner protectors need to be purchased asap!
  

So, that's all! Lots of probably un-interesting information, but thought I'd share (at least as a reminder to myself in case I forget what we talked about!)

Pic of James on our way to the doctor's office. He was very excited about being in a car: