Pulmonology Appt

Yesterday we saw Dr. Macke and they continue to marvel at Gabe's progress, and our ability to dance around the nasty bugs (knock, knock). He was comfortable enough to write the order that gets rid of the apnea monitor - The song from Pinocchio comes to mind "There are no strings on me!" So another piece of equipment made its way out the door today and we were happy to wave goodbye. Our other topic of discussion mainly involved the feeding/weight issues. He has gained about 2.5 lbs in the past couple of months, which is fine, but he was in the 25th percentile for weight by their charts, which is at the lower end of normal. We had been hanging out closer to 50th. Given Gabe's nasty stomach bug last month and the fact that he really just started eating more normally this last week, he wasn't too concerned, just felt it was something we needed to watch closely. We return in two months. Unrelated to the medical stuff, I observed a new "issue" with Gabe while we were there. Stranger awareness. Gabe was hanging out on the exam table chewing on a teether when Dr. Macke came in. Dr. Macke propped himself on the exam stool and leaned down to Gabe's level and they had a chat for a bit. Everything was just fine and all of a sudden, Gabe puckered up and started to scream. We all assumed he hit a tender spot on the gums, so I picked him up and continued to discuss Gabe's whatevers and whatfors of the past two months while doing the Mom stand, sway and pat stance. Gabe settled down until Dr. Macke stood up and started talking directly to him again, then the waterworks resumed. I began to think maybe it was him (and Dr. Macke is really great, so I hope he didn't take it too personally)....then later that evening Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the herd for us while we were at our "Why Catholic" meeting (it's an awareness and sort of bible/catechism study, not an identity crisis), apparently while we were gone Gabe was a little fussy with Grandpa a couple of times. So to those of you who have not seen Gabe in a while, try not to take it too personal if he doesn't greet you with his usual enthusiasm. Just try to remember this is a pretty normal phase, and we always celebrate normal where Gabe is concerned. Tomorrow is the regular nine month appt, so we'll see...