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(Colby's new crib. A bit industrial looking, yes. But it's still better than an incubator)(Dad and son)(Mom burping Colby after his bottle)(Mom and Colby)(You can see that Colby has put on some good weight. )(Love this picture!) (Colby looking up at Tracey)

That's the number of pictures we took of the Colbster tonight. I absolutely love taking pictures of him. Granted, the majority of them were not worthy of much, but it's great to have the ability to snap away and then pick the best from the batch.

Tracey and I feel boarder line overwhelmed lately with all that's going on. We've been picking up the pace with both of our jobs. The daily drive to the NICU is something that simply wears on you. Almost 4 months now since Tracey was first hospitalized. But...it's all for good reason . Colby has moved to Special Care where there's a whole new team of nurses (the doctors are the same thank goodness) and there's more involvement on our part which is a good thing. But tons of information has been thrown at us in just a couple days. We're in the middle of trying to get the rooms squared away at home. Our room is currently torn apart because we're painting the walls. Once that's back together Colby's room is next and there's plenty of work to be done there. Tracey and I finally registered at Baby's R Us today. That was a lot of fun. It was interesting because we have talked about the day that we would register for our baby every since were first pregnant. For those of you who don't know. We were actually pregnant for our wedding. We figured it would probably take a while so we started before our wedding.....and it didn't take long! But at the end of our first trimester we had a miscarriage. Then, 4 years of TTC. So it was a wonderful thing to finally be able to do that! A bit odd I must say being that our baby is almost 3 months old. But that's fitting for Tracey and I....we never seem to do things the "normal" way. As I tell my son Evan, "Normal is boring."

Colby was doing 100% better today than yesterday. I guess my reasoning that somehow things balance out has some merit. He was very content and awake. He's eating like a machine and is just one ounce away from weighing 5 pounds! We had a good long talk with Dr Casey today. Once again we can't say enough about him. Just the way he comes across and explains things is wonderful. If I put the details of everything we talked about in writing it would be 10 pages long. But the short of the long is that Colby is doing very well. His ability to eat so well is a very good sign. Some babies with brain bleeds and hydrocephalus have difficulty swallowing, latching on or with reflux. Colby eats like a champ, latches on pretty well and has had no reflux thus far! His twitching is something the occupational therapist will most likely keep her eyes on, but doesn't seem too bad at all. His lungs will most likely be the biggest challenge for the next couple years. Colby will be more susceptible to colds and all. He will be very sensitive to temperature changes and pollutants like smoke. His development and achievement of many milestones will most likely be delayed. But at this time there's no indication that he'll have any serious long term issues. Every doctor or nurse we talk to who tell us good news, always follow their statement with "But it's still early though and I can't tell you that he won't have some issues....." Tracey and I understand that there are no guarantees in life and we're very thankful for all the good things that do come our way. So having good news about our son is a wonderful thing!

The Special Care room has a family room where parents can bring their babies when they're stable enough. We simply disconnect Colby from his leads and oxygen, carry him to the room and hook him all back up again to machines there. As I carried Colby across the room today it struck me that this was the first time I walked with my son. A very small thing for many parents but my son is almost 3 months old now and the most I could do is pick up him from his incubator or now his crib, take about a step backwards and sit down in a chair. To be able to walk about with my baby in my arms made me realize yet again that it's the little things that matter most. And it's often these things that are taken for granted. I'm going bring him in and out of that room as often as I can now!

If Colby continues to do well with his bottle and breast feeding, they will most likely take the tube out of his belly. One less tube or wire to be hanging from him. In looking at all my pictures, I don't think I have one picture of him without tubes, tape or some other contraption up his nose or into his mouth. Maybe once that tube is out I'll see if I can take his cannula out and see my without the medical stuff on him.

Thank you all for your continued support. All of your well wishing and positive energy is doing the trick as our little Colby is growing, getting stronger and seems to be doing so well for a baby that's been through so much.