August has recently passed a really big milestone: he has now been on the outside for longer than he was on the inside. We celebrated by going to the doctor’s.

At first, he was suspicious.

“What’s this all about?” he said. “I know how this works. First you listen to my heart, then you look in my ears, and then you stab me with some needles. You can’t fool me.”

But then the nurse smiled, and frankly, the kid has never had much of a spine when it comes to pretty ladies.

He allowed the prodding to continue. Nay, he was pleased that the prodding continued. After that, it was weight, length and head measurements. The stats are that he weighs 16 pounds, is 27 inches long, and has an enormous head. It’s all relative, you see, because his weight puts him in the 3rd percentile, his length puts him in the 10th percentile, and his head puts him in the 75th percentile. That’s a big noggin to drag around all day on your tiny little featherweight shoulders.

I had to answer a lot of mysterious questions about him: “does he have a good pincer grasp?” (yes) “does he pass objects from hand to hand?” (yes) “does he play peek-a-boo?” (hm, no, but you can’t really blame him because I don’t play peek-a-boo) “does he wave good-bye?” (no, he barely even notices I’ve gone) “does he babble?” (yes) “does he respond to your babble?” (uh, what are you suggesting??? Do I seem like someone who babbles?! How did you know?! I can’t get Matthew to respond to my babble, so I don’t really think I can expect a nine month old to respond to it! ) etc.

Though August had been won over by the nurse already, it wasn’t until she casually dropped that the 9 month appointment was her favorite because she didn’t have to give any shots that he really embraced the day.

“Did you hear that?!” said August.

Yes, I did, little man. I’m pretty sure we’re all happy about that. Congratulations, August. I sure like having you on the outside.