March 7th: 6 month checkup

We had Landen’s 6 month checkup and Dr. Widelitz kept saying how great and healthy he looked. He was very impressed with his growth. It's great for a term baby, let alone a preemie. Here's the rundown:

Weight: 19 lb. 8 oz. 80.3 percentile

Height: 28 1/4" 93.6 percentile

Weight for height: 49.7 percentile

Head circumference: 45 1/2 cm 89.2 percentile

Although the number of ounces we're feeding him per bottle is a bit small, he's getting an adequate amount of formula per day with his five feedings plus the formula in his cereal.

We're going to stick with the Prevacid for his reflux. Kids often continue to need it until they're walking at about a year old.

It's ok to start trying some of the Stage 2 baby food as long as it doesn't have any chunks. He was impressed when we told him that Landen loves peas. Dr. Widelitz said it was ok to give him multi-grain cereal. (I think I remember reading something about waiting until 8 or 9 months for that though so I'm going to check it out just to be sure.)

No water unless it's a really hot day and there is a risk for dehydration.

Giving him juice for constipation didn't seem to be a big issue. Obviously it would be better to not need it, but he wasn't concerned about it. He said pears, prunes, and peaches should help keep things softer.

No signs of teeth for now.

The eczema patch on his forehead is ok as long as we keep it moisturized. Nothing else to do for it at this point.

He's not concerned at all about the flat spot/bump on his head. Over the next couple of months it should correct itself.

Landen seems to be right on track developmentally. He's doing everything he should be at this point and his muscles are getting nice and strong. Yay!

Not a concern that he was rolling from tummy to back and has now forgotten how.

Things to look foward too in the next couple of months: barrel rolling/inching/scooting/possibly crawling to get across the room, sitting without support, separation anxiety (Dr. Widelitz said Landen seems pretty mellow so this may not be much of an issue ... but we'll see.)

No concern with Landen's stuffy nose and congestion. I asked if we should delay his immunizations since he's been sick, but Dr. Widelitz said there really was no need.

Vaccinations: 3 shots and 1 oral. He got the regular whooping cough, rotovirus, meningitis cocktails plus a flu shot. It's late in the season for the flu but it's actually just starting to peak in our area. He cried of course but he took them better this time than last. I think because his Daddy was with him.

He’s outgrown the scale. Next time the nurse said we’ll have him sit on it.

While waiting for the nurse to come in with his shots Landen got very hungry and very irritated about it. I decided to try to see if he’d take his pacifier. He did! And he sucked that thing like crazy. Luckily the nurse came in about a minute after he’d had enough, but he sucked on it for a little while. We were pretty shocked.

Assuming Landen stays healthy the next 3 months, we don't go back until June. (Famous last words ...)

Irritable and kinda sleepy in afternoon/evening following shots. I suspect it’s due to the flu vaccine. Refused to eat before bed and screamed when John tried to put bottle in his mouth. Took temp = 100.1. Decided to give him Tylenol and put him to bed. Fell asleep after settling down. Woke up 3 hours later and took 4 ounce bottle. Slept through rest of night. No temp next morning and seemed back to normal self except still showing some irritability at Mimi’s.