Daniel Update - 2 month well baby visit

We had Daniel's 2 month well baby visit on Monday. It went really well! At that time he was still hovering just under 12 lbs but I took him to the lactation center to weigh him today and he is quickly approaching 12.5! I am so in love with his precious chunkiness.

Daniel loves his big sister. That is a temporary tattoo on her arm!

 So, the highlights of the visit:

• Daniel got his second hepB vaccine and his first DTaP vaccine. We are going to catch up with most of the other 2 month vaccines sometime next week or the week after. I am kind of a "middle of the road" vaccine person, in that I don't have a problem with giving them, I just think four or more shots in one visit is a bit too much.
• We will be taking Daniel to a Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrician in the next few months for an evaluation. You can read more about what these special pediatricians do here (this opens a PDF). It is a bit complicated and long to explain so I'll leave you to read it if you are so inclined. 
• Daniel's thyroid is actually just fine. I had gotten his newborn thyroid panel and freaked out comparing it to the normal adult levels I found online. Then I found the actual levels for newborns. And he's fine. We'll check it again when he is one year old. 
• His ears still look good. 
• Daniel is going to start a new vitamin made specifically for individuals with Down syndrome, called Nutrivene-D. There are extremely positive and other negative reviews about this supplement out there, but we're just looking at it as a multivitamin and not expecting miracles. I waited to give it to him until I ran it by his doctor, and now that we have the all clear he'll be starting it this weekend. I only ever gave Lily vitamin D drops when she was a baby, so the concept of a specialized vitamin for a little baby is a little foreign to me, but I'm willing to give it a try. Many other people have such good things to say about it.
• Since Daniel is feeding so very well, his doctor said it was fine to start speech therapy when he's around six months old and starts eating solids. He shouldn't need it before then. He's making the typical baby noises right on time, so there isn't a concern there currently.

Doing therapy on the couch. We are trying to get him to hold items with both hands in front of him. Laying him on his side to practice helps build up his strength. :-) He has also started bringing the toy to his mouth which is great.

 Probably the best news of the visit is that so far he is right on track or even advanced as far as baby milestones go. The very few items I ticked "no" to on the 2 month evaluation form (I filled these out for Lily too) he has started doing within the past few days. It is normal even for a typical baby to not be able to answer "yes" to every question. But if I had scheduled the well visit today instead of Monday I could have! Very good signs all around. And we are so thankful.

Sometimes big sisters decide that we need a little bling.

We would so appreciate your continued prayers that Daniel continues to do well! Thank you!

Precious one.

"Bless our God, you peoples;

loudly sound his praise,

Who has kept us alive

and not allowed our feet to slip."

Psalms 66: 8&9