Six Weeks Old

Pennington turned six weeks old today. He had a doctors appointment and we found out that he is now 10 pounds 6 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long. This means he has gained about 2 1/2 pounds and grew 2 inches since he was born. We didn't plan on getting his 2 month immunizations today but when we got to the appointment the doctor thought it would just be easiest to do them today. Pennington cried a little bit but overall the nurse thought he did really well.

One really interesting thing about Pennington is that his first and second newborn screening indicated that he has the Hemoglobin E Trait. A person with Hemoglobin E will have no health problems but will pass the gene for Hemoglobin E on to their children. This trait is found in people whose ancestors come from Southeast Asia, including Laos. Johnny is also a carrier of the Hemoglobin E Trait. When Johnny was going through his Chemo treatments his doctor mentioned that if you have this trait you are able to better fight off Malaria. The one problem with being a carrier of the Hemoglobin E Trait is that if you have a child with some that also is a carrier there is a 25% chance that the child will have Sickle Cell Anemia which is life threatening.

This month Pennington is suppose to smile at Mommy and Daddy for the first time and be able to hold his head up for a few seconds. He hasn't smiled yet except for when he is sleeping. Below is a picture of Pennington doing tummy time. He has some awesome head control for a six week old.