Some people might be offended to hear a doctor refer to their baby as "squishy." Not me. I love fat babies, especially mine. And our doctor agrees. She was using the term endearingly.

Daniel weighed 17 1/2 pounds at his four-month check-up yesterday and was 26 1/4 inches long. Both of these are close to the 90th percentile for his age group. His head circumference, 16 3/4 inches, is not quite up to Geraghty/Kenyon standards (only 50th percentile) but he has plenty of time to continue expanding. Grandma Kenyon rightly pointed out that these percentiles are opposite of Edward's infant growth trends--he was always about 50th percentile for height and weight and 90th for head. For some perspective, I found a web page with information about infant growth, and it says to expect babies to double their birth weight by 5 months. Daniel is already well ahead of that at 4.

In fact, 3-6 month clothing is meant to fit babies up to 16. 5 pounds. Daniel apparently is announcing from an early age that he will not tolerate a wardrobe full of hand-me-downs. I had to go buy some 6-9 month pants because all of Edward's clothes in that size were from the height of summer--all shorts and rompers. We're still only seeing highs in the 60s and 70s, so I don't think it's quite warm enough for Daniel to wear those--especially since it's much cooler than the daily high when we leave the house in the morning (more like high 40s or 50s.)

With an overall glowing report, Daniel now has the go-ahead to start trying some rice cereal. I think we will wait until we return from our weekend trip to start that particular adventure. Watch for photos next week.

So after the appointment yesterday, with Edward still napping at Grandma and Grandpa's, we took the opportunity to hit the store for a few new pieces for Daniel's wardrobe. On the way out of the store, I saw out of the corner of my eye, a woman walking toward the store talking on a cell phone. She saw us and said, "Oooo--there's a baby!" I didn't quite realize she was talking about us until I turned the stroller, she spied Daniel and exclaimed, "A squishy, JUICY baby!" I turned and smiled, saying, "Yes, he is a chubby one." She replied (to me or to her friend on the phone?) "I LOVE juicy babies!" I'm not sure what "juicy" implies, but I just had to laugh.

Since the text here is all about Daniel, I'll end with Edward's new favorite video of himself. He laughs out loud and demands, "Do again!" after each viewing. Then he goes to repeat the performance and says, "Get camera!" Simple child.