4-Month Visit to Pediatrician

We had Ollie's 4-month well-baby check-up yesterday. He is doing just great!

Ollie is continuing to gain weight just fine (he's in the 58th percentile) and is currently 15 pounds, 10 ounces. The doc says that by 6 months, he should have doubled his birth weight, so he's on track to hit that milestone on time.

His height is now 25-1/4", which puts him in the 55th percentile for height.

The doc gave us a checklist of things that Roo should be able to do by six months of age; a lot of the things on this list, he's already mastered!

• balances head well (he's good at this)
  
• sits with support, back rounded (we're getting there, he's still a little floppy)
• begins to support body with legs when held in a standing position (he's good at this)
• rolls from back to front and front to back (still waiting for him to do this again)
• moves object from one hand to the other (have seen this a few times)
• grabs feet and toes when lying on back (constantly!)
• makes "swimming" motions with arms and legs when placed on abdomen (yup)
• begins drooling (roger that)
• naps two to three times a day, for one to three hours each (we're just starting to see a pattern of naptimes developing now)
• begins to sleep longer at night (wrote about that yesterday!)
• has full color vision, able to see longer distances (I don't know about the color part but I can tell that he can see things across the room or across the yard)
• coos and gurgles when talked to, or in response to toys (yes)
• babbles, imitates sounds (babbles incessantly -- like I mind! -- and will occasionally imitate sounds)
• by 6 months, makes single syllable sounds like "da," "ma," "ba" (have heard mostly "ga" so far)
• laughs (oh yeah)
• squeals (this is a big one for Roo)
• blows bubbles or "raspberries" (yup, very cute!)
• recognizes familiar things and people (definitely knows his immediate family; doesn't seem to have any favorite toys though)
• may hold out arms to be picked up (hasn't done this yet)
• begins to learn concept of object permanence, i.e., a partially hidden object under a blanket is still there (haven't seen this yet)
• may show displeasure when object or person goes away (sad, but true)
• may recognize his own name (does "bay-bah-rooooh" count? if so, yes, he knows his name!)
• may begin to understand "no" (can't say that we've had an occasion to say "no" to him yet; aah, what a life!)
  
• begins to understand cause and effect, i.e., the sound a toy makes when it is dropped (not sure about that one)

There's SO MUCH to see and do for this little guy! Life is amazing! Every moment of his day is spent imprinting new experiences, burning new neuronal connections in his developing brain, and discovering things for the first time. It's such a joy to watch him figure things out, furrow his brow with concentration, or light up when he sees Mike, Merrit, or me. He's simply the best!