good news from children’s

I took Riley in for a follow-up appt at Children’s Hospital today. I wasn’t sure what to expect – the resident physician weighed him (11 lbs), measured him (just over 22”) and checked his developmental progress (tracking faces, grasping objects, neck strength, reflexes etc). The attending physician then took a few minutes with him and announced that we can taper off the seizure meds over the next 5 weeks. That was very unexpected and very good news; my boy will be off his meds by 3 months – yee haw!! No MRI or ECG was done and I don’t have to bring him in again until December. We thank God for Riley’s good health, healing and hope of being seizure-free.

Our family doc (who is Riley’s pediatrician) doesn’t tell me where Riley lands on the percentile charts for growth, which is fine with me. Today however, I was told that he’s in the 50^th percentile for height and weight and in the 10^th (!) percentile for head circumference. His little lemon-drop head is bit on the small side. Now I know why it’s best that I don’t ask for this information. I immediately came home and started researching this subject on the internet to see if I had reason to be concerned (it appears that I don’t – yet). I’m better off staying in the dark when it comes to these things.

In other news, Riley got his first trip to the Museum of Fine Arts today. I spontaneously decided to stop by after his appt so I could view the Edward Hopper exhibit. Riley slept through the whole thing – but I figure it’s never too late to expose your kid to fine art. I didn’t realize that Hopper painted so much of the New England coast. I’m more familiar with his NYC subject matter. Seeing those paintings makes me want to move to New York for a little while (sigh).

Does anything look odd in this picture?

I placed him on his tummy, stepped away to open the blinds and came back to find him on his back! He looked a little stunned by the sudden change of perspective. Maybe he accidentally squirmed “just so” and flipped himself over, but I’d like to think that my baby is advanced in his gross motor development. Since he's just a wee 7 weeks old today, I was proud of my boy's latest achievement. I'll have to keep a closer watch on him now though...

Shelby