Hawthorn Update

Baby Hawthorn had his 4 month follow-up appointment with Dr. Tappel yesterday & made his marks with flying colors! He weighed in at 10 lbs 8 oz & 23 1/4 inches long at 4 months, 9 days (subtract 5 weeks to figure gestational age). This puts him still at or below the 3rd percentile for measurements, but his growth curve showed a sharper shift upward than we have seen so far.
The really good news is that he made all his developmental indicators for a 4 month old, even though he is technically quite a bit younger than that. He is sitting upright when held, engaging socially, tracking people & conversations, grasping objects, responding verbally to speech, laughing, etc. (He can also bring a bottle to his mouth, albeit spaztically, as shown in the photos.)
Hawthorn will be starting on solid foods a little early, to help him get some of the minerals he missed not staying for the latter part of gestation. Dr. Tappel said he thinks we can begin now, so we will do a bit of research & choose a first food. Very exciting for baby who really enjoys sitting with family at meal time & has a keen interest in sucking on strawberries, mangoes & other fruits!
Thorn got some vaccinations -- oh the myriad of shots they give them these days. Too bad for baby, he screamed for an hour straight last night. Ambivalent as we are about them, the thought of a polio outbreak like they had in SLC this past spring makes us want to err on the safe side, especially with a baby who has had so many medical hardships already. 
So, that's the news on the most wee one. We follow up again in a month. Baby never ceases to amaze -- I was just looking at NICU photos yesterday & marveling at the strength & resilience of this tiny little being. How miraculous.