Moving up

This morning Asa learned to climb the stairs. This is sort of a huge deal and a game changer for all of us. The good news is, he moves very slowly when he climbs stairs, which means we will have plenty of time to catch him in the act. The other bit of good news is he's learning and developing right on schedule (or slightly ahead) in all categories. This bit of good news makes me feel both proud and relieved. I can't speak for Jeff but I think it probably does the same for him and maybe makes him feel a little better that Asa isn't in the 90% percentile for weight.

Our little guy is sort of a string bean. He's tall as can be but he is not one of those very round babies with rolls of fat cascading over his arms, belly and legs. He's got tiny little elbow dimples, a few small creases on the thighs indicating an attempt at pudge, and a gorgeous, absolutely delightful round belly that fits in my hand. He also has fabulous curly, sort of strawberry blond hair which I've had to trim twice already. At every doctor's visit we lay Asa on the scale expecting that this time for sure he'll have hit the 20 pound mark and to date the highest we've gotten is 19lbs 10oz.

This is very upsetting for Jeff. Jeff was a big baby! He was top of the charts (maybe even chart busting) for height and for weight. And now today he stands about 6'6" and you can sort of see that yeah, he would have been a big baby. I don't know what my stats were back then but I do know that as kid I was a beanpole. Totally stick thin with knobby knees and dangerously sharp elbows. Pregnancy definitely helped fill me out (as did that dastardly duo, Time and Age) but to date I would say I still rank on the thinner side of average.

So it's no shock to me that I would have an average weight baby with long limbs. It bothers me not that he has never been above the 57% percentile in weight. I am secretly very pleased that he is not so chubby that his thighs prevent his knees from touching (I've seen this on a baby and it's alarming).  I guess I pretty much feel like everything Asa does is perfect and the way he looks is perfect even if his pants are sliding down his thin little hips while his ankles peek out the bottom of the pant leg. I had several years of childhood experience being long and lean (Gap even named a jean after me!) and I'll be there to support him in it if it is his path as well.