The good hydrocephalus.

Evan has had a large head since birth. Not super crazy large though, I mean, it was "only" 35cm when he popped out which landed him in the 75th percentile. He's been outgrowing the head/neck holes of onesies ridiculously early from the get-go. The pediatrician measured his head every single time we went to an appointment and every single time it remained in the 75th percentile. That is, until the most recent visit at 4 months. It measured 44.5cm which landed him in the 97th percentile. This concerned the pediatrician a bit because the jump from 75% to 97% didn't follow the normal growth pattern. She referred us to a radiologist to have a pediatric cranial ultrasound done to rule out hydrocephalus. After an insurance fiasco forced us to postpone the ultrasound by a week, we finally had it done last Thursday and were told that we'd hear something back in 48 hours. Tuesday morning, I received the results from his pediatrician. Evan has benign external hydrocephalus. She said it was good news. Good because it's external rather than internal. Internal is WAY bad, needs surgery, and can be deadly. External generally fixes itself by the kid's first birthday when the fontanelles close and is nothing to worry about. She also said that it's hereditary and that it's likely someone in the family had a large head as a baby, but in the "old days", they didn't check for it. Still, she referred us to a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins to keep tabs on it. She warned us that they're a super crazy busy practice so our visit there may be a month away, but there is no rush because Evan is showing no signs that would indicate a problem. I'm waiting for a call back from them so I can schedule an appointment. Hopefully, that in itself doesn't take a month. Ah...healthcare...

Milestones

Well, we've hit a lot of milestones in the last month. Each one of them seemed really sudden, too, as if he's known how to do them all along and just wasn't showing us.

First, he can lift and hold his head up. I know this doesn't seem like much, but the first time we put him down and he did it, it was a marathon session. He just looked up, held his head there, and looked around. Mostly it was prompted by the Mobi Glomate Jr, an awesome little glowey toy thingy-ma-bob. I dig it, and I recommend one for any child who likes lights and colors.

Then, suddenly one day, fortunately while I was home, tykelet just rolled over. This happened on Andrew's birthday/New Years Eve, which is kind of poetic for some reason. Granted, I don't know what that reason is, but it is. I was so proud. It's amusing, too, because he just kind of rapidly flips himself over. When he wants to do it, it's done. When he doesn't want to, he pretty much lies on his tummy and screams at us.

At the four month well-visit, we found out that we weren't actually participating in a well-visit. Evan had his first ear infection, which explains why he's been cranky for the last several days. So, he's on some meds, and he'll get better, and then he has to get his shots, which is going to suck. We also have to take him in on Friday for a cranial sonogram because his head is growing more rapidly than it should be, and the doctors want to be sure that this isn't a problem. So, we'll find out on Friday!

Finally, today he had his first taste of rice cereal. He appeared to enjoy it, but since mom was giving him a bottle for the first time, he kept turning his head trying to get to the real food. My little boy!

That's all for now.