The Miller Bear is doing well and we are so very encouraged by his recent progress. He seems much more robust and alert than just a couple of weeks ago. And robust he is at 4 lbs., 8.4 oz! We have been bracing ourselves for the weight train to slow down, but homeboy is puttin' on some L-B's! He is now alternating his feedings between the bottle and gavage, and taking his feedings well. This is tuckering him out a bit, but we expect it to. Like we mentioned in another post, we are asking him to do a lot of things right now. This is a picture of Dad helping him muster up a good belch. He rivals Al Bundy, all the Peoples boys, and his very talented Momma when it comes to this...

Tomorrow he will receive his first immunizations. One of the shots will most likely cause a fever, so he is likely to feel a little bit yucky. We have gone back and forth worrying about immunizations and finally decided to go ahead and begin them. We are likely to spread out the ones we can in future.

Another milestone for Miller today...no more caffeine! Today was his last dose. We are hoping he won't skip a beat, but we are prepared for his oxygen needs to go up again for a bit. The caffeine will stay in his system for a number of days, so its effects will dwindle slowly. We are hoping he adapts quickly without much ado. He has been hovering around 21% (room air!) on his oxygen for a few days, so that's where we want to stay. If he can stay around 21% he will come off his cannula and leave oxygen, and that thing that tickles his nose, in the past.

Happy Father's Day to all the Daddies out there! Have a wonderful and blessed weekend.

Love,

Danny & Stephanie