Getting Bigger

Deven is rapidly approaching the 2-month mark, so he went in to the pediatrician to be checked out and receive a bunch of vaccinations (we went a bit early as our pediatrician is going on vacation for 2 weeks).  The good news is he is growing like a champ and received a "he looks perfect" review from the doctor.  The bad news is that despite switching to new medication (Prilosec) for his acid reflux / spit-up issues, he remains our little Vesuvius -- reliably refunding a decent percentage of most meals.  Since he is gaining weight at a healthy pace, the doctor said that it is probably just something to live with, and never fear he will likely outgrow it by 6 months (ugh).  Given the next step would have been to have him do a "barium swallow" and subject him to a bunch of scans, it is probably just easier to buy more burp cloths and laundry detergent.

He did show off his growing muscles to the doctor, including propping himself up on his arms and rolling over onto his back from his stomach (alas, not captured on video and not repeated since).  The doctor said he was a pretty strong little guy for his age and predicted he will be more mobile and active than Sonia was.  Our days of leaving him on the playmat unattended are numbered.

For posterity, here were his stats:

Weight: 10 lbs, 8.25 oz (32nd percentile)
Height: 22.25 inches (56th percentile)
Head circumference: 39.1 centimeters (38th percentile)

While he is by no means a big guy, he is putting on weight faster than predicted (going from 25th percentile to 32nd), so we are all hopeful that will lead to less spit-up and longer stretches of sleep at night.

On the sleep front, this weekend we decided a small amount of "tough love" was in order when it appeared  he was actually trending backward and waking up more often at night.  So, we decided that we would try for a 3-hour minimum stretch between each feeding (yes, a low bar).  We took Sonia out of her room for two nights (since it neighbors Deven's) and let him cry as required, but it turned out that there was very little crying involved, and indeed he even went 4+ hours at times.  It is remarkable how 4 hours of sleep can feel like a lot, but it is a welcome trend for sure.  Sonia is now back in her room and Sameer and I are slightly more capable of coherent thought.