Grace Like Rain...

Today was Joshua's 6-month well-baby check-up. It was the best check-up we've had so far! Joshua weighs a whopping 17 lbs 7 oz and is over 26 inches long! That puts him at the 50th percentile for his age in both weight and height, so he's now the perfect 6-month baby not lagging behind because of his prematurity. At this point, we are allowed to stop the NeoSure! Hooray for no more ultra-expensive formula!!! Now we can move to regular formula so long as it still has the necessary fatty acids including DHA. I think we'll probably switch to the normal Similac Advanced (or whatever's on sale, realistically). Yeah for Joshua!

We're also allowed to start trying to feed him solid foods, introducing them slowly as he's able. That includes seeing if he'll drink water from a sippy cup. What a BIG boy! However, the doctor also said not to get disappointed if it doesn't work the first time. We'll just keep trying later if he can't handle all this new stuff at once.

Today I saw Dr. Tifft, who I believe is the one who began this practice. While he's very popular and hard to get in to see, I really liked him. So, now I have two favorites there, the female Dr. Hoshauer and the male Dr. Tifft, which should be sufficient for all of Joshua's needs. Dr. Tifft also said that he doesn't think Joshua is that far behind mobility-wise. He said that getting him physical therapy couldn't hurt since it's free, but I shouldn't be overly concerned because he's holding his head up well and starting to roll and do things on his own. The one thing he said Joshua needed was toneness & muscle definition (I guess the Bean gets this lack of definition from his mommy - ha!) but overall he seems to be doing just fine. He said that by a year old, you won't even notice a difference between him and other babies his age.

He said that in April Joshua's allowed to be out and about within reason. People should still wash their hands before touching him and take necessary precautions (someone with the flu or a cold shouldn't be in his face) but we're over the big "worry" season since most major sicknesses are done for the year. His one concern was Joshua's pulmonary ability, not because Joshua shows any signs of trouble, but simply because he wanted Shawn & I to follow up with CHOP on what their expectations would be for his physical capabilities and pulmonary function. So, I jotted that question down to ask them.

Dr. Tifft also noted how intelligent Joshua is already. He noted that the baby was somewhat afraid of him or not happy to be touched by a stranger. He said that that's quite intelligent for this age that he recognizes him as a stranger and not part of his normal crowd. So, our Bean is smart as a whip!

Overall, the check-up went extremely well (other than hearing him scream from getting shots, which is normal but heartbreaking). Here are some pictures of Joshua in his car seat. It's time to pack up this car seat and his swing since most of these things have an 18-20 lbs maximum. Compare it to this first picture of bringing him home. He's getting SO BIG!

I called Shawn so we could meet him for lunch so I could tell him all the good news (I scheduled the 9-month well-baby appointment for after Shawn gets out of work so he can actually meet Dr. Tifft and see what a check-up is like) and on the way home Todd Agnew's song "Grace Like Rain" came on the radio. It was pouring outside, and I had a new appreciation for what Grace like Rain not only looks like but feels like...we are so blessed! Here is a picture from the first week of Joshua's life to remind us of what he's come through and how great a miracle it is that he's doing so well!