Life with Margo

Margo having a bad hair day (but she's still adorable)

Margo turned 9 months old on January 20. This week we had her 9-month check-up. Margo’s rate of growth is definitely slowing down. She only grew by 1/2 inch, bringing her to 28 inches tall (between the 50th and 75th percentile), gained just over 1 lb to put her at 15 lbs, 13 oz (between 5th and 10th percentile), and increased her head size by 1/2 inch for a total head size of 16.75 inches (between 10th and 25th percentile). While it’s no surprise that Margo is a small baby (given that half of her genes came from Maia), there was some concern about her weight. She actually lost 3 ounces between the beginning of January (when she was at the doctor for an ear infection) and the end of January when she went in for her 9-month check-up. Dr. Landman attributes Margo’s weight loss to a decrease in her appetite while she was sick with a persistent ear infection and the fact that she was taking antibiotics for 20 days in January (apparently antibiotics can negatively affect the digestive system). We’ll be going back to the doctor for a weight check in 6 weeks. In the meantime, Maia and Jake are trying to fatten Margo up with a daily serving of whole milk yogurt.

On a happier note, we are pleased to report that Margo now has enough hair that she can have a bad hair day.

Maia, Jake and Margo traveled to Florida last week so that Margo could meet her great grandmother Miriam (Jake’s grandmother) for the first time. After arriving late Wednesday night, the family decided to start their trip right on Thursday morning with breakfast at Toojays (a New York-style deli that has become an Avidon family favorite on past trips to Florida). Following breakfast, the family headed to Miriam’s house, where they met up with Grandma Elaine and Grandpa Richard and spent the day relaxing. Margo enjoyed playing with her grandparents and great grandmother and especially loved the fountain outside Miriam’s apartment.

Miriam, Henry, Maia, Margo and Jake on a boat tour

On Friday morning, Maia, Jake, Margo, Richard, and Elaine headed to Toojays yet again for brunch and then the whole gang took a boat tour of the New River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on the Carrie B sightseeing boat. The tour included multi-million dollar waterfront homes (most of which seem to be owned by Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga), yachts, and some of the world’s largest cruise ships. The post-cruise meal, not surprisingly, took place at Toojays.

Saturday morning began with breakfast at Toojays (sadly Grandma Elaine was sick and couldn’t enjoy the fourth meal at Toojays in three days) and then a trip to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. For some reason, the family decided not to have dinner at Toojays, and instead headed to Legal Seafood. It was okay, but Toojays would have been better.

Margo, Richard and Elaine on the boat tour

Maia has been reading a lot of books about early childhood and brain development recently (a new interest inspired by Margo’s arrival). One of the books she recently completed, The Scientist in the Crib, describes babies as having “an infinite capacity for wonder.” Maia and Jake have found this a particularly apt description of Margo at this time. The most every-day items are fascinating to Margo: eyeglasses, shoelaces, tags, buckles and straps of any kind. Among her favorite activities are looking in the mirror (an activity that brings a smile to her face every time), turning off and on the light switch (a very fun game), and, of course, playing with any of the objects listed above.

Here is an example of one of Margo’s wonder-filled journeys: Margo crawls over to the couch, where she discovers something really exciting — under the couch is a tag. She plays with the couch tag for about a minute before deciding to move on. Just a few feet away, Margo spies another thrilling discovery — a long thread hanging from the living room rug. Margo plays with this for another minute before moving on. But, she is quickly stopped in her tracks again; it’s a patch of sunlight on the rug that Margo spends another minute trying to pick up. Finally, she finishes her journey at the shoe tray at the entrance to the living room, where Maia’s shoelaces provide endless fun.

Maia and Jake love watching the world through Margo’s eyes.

Margo pulls to standing for the first time

On Saturday, January 10, Margo pulled herself up to a standing position for the first time.

As she frequently does these days, Margo was explaining to Maia that she did not want to take a nap (by getting up on her knees, holding the bars of her crib as if she is looking out from a jail cell, and crying), when Maia had a feeling that Margo was about to stand up. Maia called Jake in the room, and Margo pulled herself up. Feeling pleased with herself, Margo started smiling while continuing to cry (to make clear to her parents her strong opposition to her nap).

Margo at her activity table

Margo has only tried this feat a few times since then, but she is getting pretty good at holding herself up if placed in a standing position. Her new favorite toy is an activity table where she can practice standing up, while pressing and turning buttons to make music play or lights turn on.

Jake and Margo on the streets of New York

Maia, Jake and Margo had a wonderful trip to New York over the Christmas holidays. Having just started crawling before the trip, Margo loved the large open spaces in Jake’s parents apartment, where she could crawl around and explore (Maia and Jake were so inspired by this, that they decided to get rid of their coffee table to provide Margo more crawling space at home). Margo even mastered “the great divide” — a few feet of wood floor between two rugs. With all this practice, Margo became a true crawler and now crawls around the whole house, moving easily between rugs and wood floors.

Charlotte, Naomi and Margo make music

Margo was in a great mood for the entire trip and enjoyed meeting many, many new people — including several of Jake and Maia’s friends, several of Jake’s parents friends, and many of Jake’s extended family members. Margo even formed a band with Naomi and Charlotte Oberweger, with Margo on drums and Naomi and Charlotte on guitar.

Margo on the Subway

Margo also enjoyed exploring New York and riding the subway. Maia and Jake had prepared Margo well for her first subway ride using the book Subway by Karen Katz and Anastasia Suen (a gift from Nisha, Jeremy, and Kavi), so she knew just what to expect.

Perhaps best of all, Margo adjusted very quickly to East Coast Time and went to bed at her normal time of 7 p.m. So, Jake and Maia were able to leave a sleeping Margo home with Grandma Elaine and Grandpa Richard and head off for some adventures of their own. They went to the movies, went out to dinner, and even went out for drinks. It felt a little like old times. All in all, a wonderful holiday.