"Extremely Cute"

Hello from heat wave central (for today)! What crazy weather this week, 60s one day, almost 90 the next :)

We've had a great week at the Erickson residence. Last Friday Sam had a follow-up appointment with the neurologist in Minneapolis. The first thing she said when she came in the room was that he had grown so much. Then she proceeded to tell us that Sam is "completely normal" and that she has no concerns other than he might be "extremely cute"! She said that he is meeting or exceeding all of his developmental milestones. She will continue to monitor him on a less frequent basis because he did have the trauma at birth and is still at a very small risk for epilepsy or cerebal palsy; but she is very pleased with how he is doing, just a normal baby boy!

On the way home from the neurologist we got to pick up Julia and bring her up to Grandpa and Grandma's for the weekend and that was a lot of fun. She's so cute and smart with all her words and songs - I love it when she sings "twinkle twinkle little star"!

Saturday, Sam got to spend a few hours with Grandma Erickson while Matt and I went out for dinner and he was a good boy for her too. He's starting to do pretty well with his sleeping, at least 4 to 5 hours to start and last night he only got up one other time, actually putting himself back to sleep once before I could get from our bedroom to his upstairs. He's also really growing and starting to fill out more, eating like a little piggy at daycare and getting rolly polly legs.

Monday he had a visit from the physical therapist and this was the first time he didn't cry when she was working with him. She was really impressed with him and he went through his whole range of "look what I can do now" with his tummy time, rolling over and sitting up - he looks so proud of himself! He's also starting to discover his feet and thinks they are really funny - every time he touches his feet, he laughs :)

He really likes his bathtime now too - just chillin' in the tub and chewing on his hands. He got to wear his first shorts today and looked so cute!

Baptism and Check-ups

This has been a milestone week for Sam. On Sunday, we celebrated his baptism ceremony. He was actually baptized the night he was born at the hospital given the circumstances of his birth, so this was the Ceremony of the Sacrament and Father Tony was able to say some nice prayers at a more decent hour, rather than 2:00 am like he did at his official baptism. Sam did very well through the whole ceremony, right up until it was time to take pictures. At that point, he had decided it was enough of wearing this dress, and was not having any more of it! He really is saying "thank you" in the picture to Aunt Dee and Uncle Chad for being his Godparents - not crying!

On Tuesday Sam had his 4-month well baby check-up. He's now 13 lbs 10 oz and 25 1/2 inches long, that's still the 25th% for his weight and head and the 75th% for his height, like he was at 2 months. Sam's now gained 6 pounds and 5 inches since birth. Matt likes to tell him that he's almost half as tall as Auntie Brenda! He's still long and lean, although those legs are definitely starting to get some meat on them! He did really well with his shots and actually gave me a smile while I was getting him dressed again :) The doctor said that everything looked great as far as he was concerned, he's hitting all his milestones and progressing exactly as he should be.

With the lovely weather we've been having, we've all been enjoying some walks. Sam and Daddy are getting in a morning walk most days and Sam and Mommy enjoy an evening walk too. He likes to ride in his stroller and most mornings he takes a little cat nap on their walk. Matt tried Sam out in the backpack around the house the other day and they both liked it, so that will probably be something they get a lot of use out of.

Next week, he'll have his monthly visit from the physical therapist on Monday and on Friday another check-up with the neurologist in Minneapolis. So, we'll post updates following that appointment. Have a great weekend everyone!