Meet 19-month-old Xaylen Asher Richard, the big baby his mother compares to a ‘happy bowling ball’.
Salitza Richard, 31, from Dallas, Texas, was worried about the health of her youngest son because of how fast he grew after he was born.
Fitting into 12-18 month clothes at just six-months-old, he’s now big enough to share clothes with his four-year-old brother Judah, even though he was a very typical eight pounds when he was born.
Athlete trainer Salitza jokes that his size and the fact that he took a long time to start walking has given her a much bigger bicep.
Xaylen has already been scouted for sports teams, and Salitza knows her son will be tall when he’s older.
Salitza recalled: ‘It was insane how fast he grew. He was above the 100 percentile every time we went to the doctor.
‘People will ask how we had such a big baby, and we’re so tiny. I am 5’4 and my husband is 5’9, we already know he will definitely be taller than us.
‘It was hilarious the first time we went to the doctor when he had his two-week check-up. She asked us if we were sure we had the right baby as he always looked older for his age.
‘I was concerned for his health as I wondered if it was healthy for baby to be as fat as he was, and she said everything was perfect.
‘I have an older son who was the complete opposite, he was always in the lower percentile. My older son Judah is four and Xaylen is just over a year old and they now wear the same size clothes.
‘The rate he is growing is nuts. I had clothes from when Judah was younger he was wearing, but I have to keep going up a size and switching so often.
‘When he was one month old he was wearing three to six months clothes. When he was three months old he was in six to nine months clothes, and when he was six months old he was in eighteen month clothes, and now he’s pushing three years old clothing.’
Salitza thinks her son’s size has delayed his ability to walk, but now that he knows how to run around, he’s loving it.
She said: ‘People always think he’s older than he is. He’s been so heavy, he now weighs 31 pounds and Judah currently weighs 32 pounds.
‘He’s been delayed on growing and walking as he’s only just started walking a few days ago. Judah first started walking at 10 months and Xaylen started at 18 months, think it’s due to his size everything has been delayed a few months.
‘I definitely have a bigger bicep because of him, because he wasn’t walking until recently, I would dread going out to places as we would have to hold him, although I couldn’t hold for long as it was too much.
‘It’s been a game-changer now he is finally walking. He was so excited as well. It was crazy because it happened overnight, he started taking a few steps and now he’s running a few days later.
‘He also doesn’t really get hurt – he runs over Judah and Judah will be the one to cry. He’s literally like a bowling ball, he’s such a happy baby.
‘If you give him food he’s happy, he’s so chill, and he eats a lot, he eats his food and will then eat whatever Judah leaves and will then try and eat more. He isn’t picky.
‘People who don’t know him and see him will comment saying he’s a big baby, but our friends and everyone is in shock, especially because our first was so small, so it’s the complete opposite.
‘I agree with people when they make comments. I am just as in shock as they are, and I say “I don’t know what’s happening, we’re just rolling with it”, it’s been a fun ride so far with the differences and experiencing the complete difference.
‘Once we were going on holiday and I got stopped and asked to buy him a ticket for a seat as they didn’t believe that he was under one, let alone two-years-old which is the age for a baby to have a seat on a plane.
‘We got questioned if he was too old to be on my lap too.’
Xaylen has already been clocked as a future athlete, with his statue and happy bowling ball tendencies ideal qualities for American football.
‘My husband works with NFL athletes and people are already saying to start trialling him and get him on the team now,’ said Salitza.
‘I also work with a lot of high schools, and they say they want him as a player on their teams, so he has already been scouted, it’s hilarious.’
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