Cooper- 6 months

Cooper had his 6 month check up and shots today. He HATED the shots. Worse though was the thyroid test. They had to do a heel stick. He had already had the shots and had just passed out in my arms. You could tell he was having a good dream because he was giggling and smiling while sleeping. Then came the heel stick. It was awful. He cried the whole time and got red in the face and was hot and sweaty. It was terrible.

The doctor gave him a good report though. She was concerned that he had too much tone in his upper legs (basically, his hamstrings were too strong). I have been doing exercises with him and she said that, much to her surprise, his tone was much better and he is getting more flexible. Yay!

Recently, he has started grinning when he sees me. This is a big deal for me. Just having him smile at me really makes my day. He did it in front of the doctor and she was just as happy as I was. Premature babies with developmental issues often just don't develop. Cooper, however show his development may be, is progressing. In addition to recognizing and responding to me, he is working on sitting up, he has great hand to mouth control, he is putting his hands at the midline, he is lifting his head and shoulders up more when on his stomach, looking around at his surroundings, etc. However, he's still not rolling over or reaching for things. He'll get there!

Anyway, he is over 13 pounds now and 24 inches! Such a big baby!!