4 Month Check Up Stats

We took Ethan to his 4 month check up today. The doctor was amazed at our big boy. Her first words, and the first words of a majority who come in contact with Ethan, were "he's so long!" Duh! Old news! He measured 26.5 inches long and weighed 13.8 pounds. Which means my measurement of him a couple of weeks ago at 27 inches was off by a little. I was hoping he would have doubled his birth weight by 4 months but considering he recently threw up everything he ate followed by several days of consuming no more than 2 oz at a time I suppose a near 14 pounds isn't too bad. On the growth curve, his height moved above his growth curve from 90% to 95% and his weight moved below his curve from 55% to 5o%. We are attributing the drop in weight to his recent sickness and will see how he does at his 6 month check up. If he drops again we will address it. If he stays on the curve or goes above it then we are good to go.

Not to toot Ethan's horn but the doc was seriously amazed at how advanced he is. His great head control and straight posture especially. And that he was so alert, looking around and grabbing her tools. She said babies are usually 6 months old before they start taking her tools.

Now about his eating habits. Historically the boy doesn't eat much and rarely finishes a 5 oz bottle. Usually just about 4 oz or so. But the last 2 days he has finished all 5 oz and hungry for more 2-3 hours later. Additionally he is attacking his bottle, mouth open wide, as soon as he sees it. So as of tonight I increased his bottle to 6 oz and he took every bit of it and I'm pretty sure would have kept eating had there been more in the bottle. He sucked it dry. So, maybe we can finally add some meat to those long bones!!

I can't believe I forgot to blog this...last Friday was the court hearing to terminate Ethan's birth parents' rights to him. The judge awarded termination!! So now we move into the 90 day waiting period (appeal period). The court will move our case to an adoption attorney and our agency will move our case to an adoption case manager. At CPS we get to keep the same caseworker which I'm so happy for because we love her! During this time CPS and our agency will have what's called a selection staffing where our family is officially chosen as Ethan's adoptive family. Then they will provide to us his case file where we can read all about him (which I'm sure there will be nothing new to learn!) and we can decide if we in fact want to adopt. I can say I don't even need to read the file; Ethan is MY son! So of course we will accept then there will be another meeting called a presentation staffing with CPS, our agency and us (and probaby some other people I'm not aware of) where we will officially be presented as his adoptive family. After that meeting we are free to adopt. After adoption our relationship with CPS and our agency will end and we can continue as a normal family of four without the need to report everything under the sun to 'them'. I'm so ready for that day.