Not Such an Infant, Not Quite a Toddler

Jeremiah is advancing rapidly but not growing as fast as he should. We went to the doctor this week for his 8-month checkup & he only weighs 16 lbs. Right now he's in the 5-10 percentile for his age. We feed him all the time, but he just doesn't gain that fast. The doctor isn't too worried though since he has a big appetite. In fact, he's ready for the next phase of foods: chicken, tortillas, cheese, beans, and red meat. Pretty much the only things he still can't eat are the high-allergy foods like nuts, fish, and wheat nor the choking hazards like popcorn or other small foods. Apart from eating he's doing good. The doctor wants him to start crawling, but Jeremiah acts like he wants to skip that. He likes to stand up holding on to the coffee table but doesn't like crawling.

As for me, I now work in the toddler house. At first I was in the older teenage girls' house, but the toddler house called for reinforcements. A few weeks ago the orphanage received 70 new children, with about 30 of them being infants and toddlers. The youngest baby was just a few days old. So now there are about 50 infants/toddlers in the house. Needless to say, it stays busy over there. With all the new kids the orphanage now houses about 480 children. The school year here is almost over, so the staff will have their hands full keeping everyone occupied.