Measure twice... cut once?

The kiddos went for their 9-month check-up today.  They are definitely growing up, but now it is in skills more than size.  Tommy weighed 20 lbs 10 oz, which is a 10 ounce gain in the past 2 months.  Ellie weighed 18 lbs 6 oz, which is a 7 ounce gain.  How long they are is anyone's guess.

The nurse measured Ellie first and told me she was 29 inches.  I asked if she was sure and she said yes.  That was a 4 inch gain from her 6 month checkup.  Then she measured Tommy and said he was 27-1/2 inches.  That sounds more like what I've measured him at, and it was a one inch gain.  I asked her to measure Ellie again and this time she said she was also 27-1/2".  I was standing right there watching and it looked like she was stretching it a little, but not much, maybe a half inch.

A few minutes later Dr. Becker came in and told the nurse that she wanted to show her how to properly measure babies.  She was a new nurse and the doctor didn't like way her other nurses had shown her how to measure.  The nurse had marked the top of the babies' heads on the paper on the examining table, then stretched them out and marked where the heels landed, then measured the difference between marks.  Of course they were wiggling the whole time, so by the time the heels were marked the heads were no longer on the head lines.  Dr. Becker's method was to hold the tape measure at the crown and stretch it around to the rump, then measure rump to heel.  She measured both babies at 26-1/2".  I think she was pretty accurate with Ellie, but I saw some pretty big bends in Tommy that she was missing because he was wriggling like an eel.  Plus, at his 6-month visit he was already that long (theoretically).  So I decided to double-check her measurements when I got home.

Oh my goodness, babies are wiggly! 

These pictures don't really appear that way, but trust me. :)

My measurements ranged from 26" to 33".  So they are somewhere between the 15th and 85th percentile on height!  Close enough. :)

I think they are both a bit on the short side, and their weights are right around the 50% marks, so that puts them a bit on the chunky side for their height.  I'm not sure that they really are though, because they have the stumpiest little legs compared to their torsos, and since I think torso inches probably should be heavier than leg inches... well, you get the point.