John's 6 Month Check-up

The other day, John went for his 6 month check-up (we are late, he is now 7 months - such is life). But I wanted to document and share the findings. He was sick earlier this month with a respiratory and ear infection so he didn't have much of an appetite during that time. Yes, I admit that I pushed him to eat during that time which means that a bottle of 4 oz would take 20 - 30 minutes to get down when it normally would take him about 10 - 15 minutes. We would have to stop and use the bulb syringe along the way because the boy just kept pulling off the bottle because his nose was partially clogged. His eating of solids was virtually non-existent.

But he is pretty much back to himself - playing and enjoying his brothers and sister again. His appetite for solids has come back to full strength and he is cranky when he doesn't get them. For example, this morning, I took him with me to have breakfast with some other guys from church. I didn't have any solids with me as Joy had just nursed him before she left for work so I felt that I would be safe. But I was wrong, he stared at my food and watched me eat the whole time. I felt so bad for him that I slipped him a few of my scrambled eggs although that is not what he usually gets. He was happy to get back home to his cereal.

The things he now enjoys eating are squash, blueberries, carrots, cereal, bananas, biter buscuits, sweet potatoes, and fruity yogart. He is getting much better at his aim with his biter biscuit as now he can actually hit his mouth whereas when we first introduced the biter buscuit, we would stab himself in the eye with it.

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Here are the check-up vitals:

• Weight: 14lbs 5oz. (~ 45th %)


• Length: 24 3/4 inches long (25th %)


• Head Circumference: 17 1/2 inches (+ 2 Std Dev above 50th %)

All are measured using the Down syndrome chart

He also got 3 more of his vaccines.

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John is now working toward sitting up independently which he can do for about 5-10 seconds before he topples over from turning his body to look behind him or to the side of him. But he is progressing toward that mark. He is also rolling from back to stomach and vica versa. He spends a lot of his time during the day on the floor playing with his hanging toys on the gym. At this point, it does me no good to leave him on his stomach unattended because he stretches and rolls wherever he likes which these days, he is enjoying being on his side while playing with the toys with one hand.



We are very happy with the way he is progressing. Without looking it up in a book, it seems to me that he is about a month behind which doesn't concern me any as long as he is progressing forward. At this point, he is learning and I am satisfied with that no matter what the pace. We're having a great time with this boy and if it takes him a little longer to meet those milestones, then we just thank the Lord that we have more time to cuddle and hold him.