Ryan's 4 Month Check-Up

I can hardly believe that Ryan is already almost 4 months old! The time seems to have flown by despite being somewhat house-ridden during his first several months to protect him from respiratory viruses. I took him to our pediatrician for his 4 month check-up today, and he did really well! At his 2 month check-up there were a few developmental milestones that he should have been able to do, but he had not yet begun to (due to his prematurity). I am happy to report that he has "caught up" and has met all of the expected developmental milestones and then some for his 4 month visit. The doctor was really impressed with his muscle tone and head/neck control. He weighed 12lbs 13oz (10th percentile) and is 25 inches long (~50th percentile). He dropped from the 25th to the 10th percentile in weight, but our pediatrician said that he is not really concerned about that at this point. We were given the okay to start solid foods, so we'll try rice cereal with him in the next few days. Unfortunately something that he has in common with is brother is partially clogged tear ducts (Ethan had one, but both of Ryan's eyes are affected). We're hoping that the issue resolves itself as he grows. If goopy eyes are still a problem at 6 months of age, then the clogged ducts are not likely to resolve on their own and will require placement of tubes under anesthesia after he is a year old like Ethan had done. Ryan has been a lot more vocal than Ethan was at this age, and we enjoy listening to him make all sorts of fun little sounds. He says "hi, goo, gaa, ooo" and is very interactive. He loves it when you echo the sound that he has just made. His smile just melts my heart.