Four Teeth !!!

(Tracey and her sisters Amie and Sarah)

(Colby and grandpa Dave)

(Colby and Grandma Linda)

(Colby and Aunt Amie)

(LOL, Colby looks as if he wants to say "Dad....what are you doing????")

Colby's been doing very well. His top two teeth have pushed through. You can't see them yet, but you can feel them. That makes four teeth now! He had what looked like a cold, then turned into a cough and now as all but disappeared. We're glad that it didn't turn into anything much. If we can just make it through this cold season without any issues, we'll feel much better!

He has a toy....kind of like a gumball machine where you put little balls in the top, then have to pull a lever to get the balls out again. We've been working with Colby first to understand how to put the balls in and secondly, how to pull the lever and get the balls back out. He's finally got it! It's not 100% of the time, but he gets the connection. I know it may seem like a small thing, but it's just so awesome to see him drawing the connection that if he does something, something else will happen.

He's still not crawling. It seems like he has little strength in his arms. He just won't push himself up. Well...he will, but only for a quick second, then he'll fall onto his belly and he's content to lay there or flip onto his back. We'll have to keep working on that!

Although this is technically Colby's second Thanksgiving, he was in the NICU last year. So we're counting this as his first. We had Tracey's family over our house. We love to entertain and really having Colby interact with other people. It was a nice day.

Colby's crying and probably wants a bottle, so I'm going to wrap up this entry and post it. Hope that all of Colby's Fan Club had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Some thoughts....

(taken this morning)

(Jumping in your jumper in the morning while still in your PJ's can really tire a boy out !!!! I notice the other morning that he was really quiet, so I looked over and he was out cold!)

It's been a while since I really wrote anything meaningful in my postings. Things have been busy with work and with Colby slowly progressing, I sometimes feel as if I'm repeating the same things over and over. But I thought I'd take a minute to share some thoughts.

I continue to feel so lucky and thankful for Colby's progress. My feelings will ebb and flow. At times I'll see another baby that's younger than he is and progressing so much more quickly. But I can't change the fact that he was born premature and had come complications. So I quickly divert my attention to what he IS doing and what he HAS accomplished. He's such a joy in my life. I was talking with another dad and we were talking about how it may be a bit different with men and women. Women are instantly bonded with their children. But with men, it seems that the bond strengthens over time. When Colby first came home, he just ate and slept. Sure, I enjoyed spending time with him, but boy has the experience changed now that he's interactive and really seems to recognize me. He's started to repeat certain things we do. It's not 100% of the time, but you can see that he draws the correlation. If we do that thing with our finger on our lips, he'll do the same. If we shake our head like we're saying "no", sometimes he'll repeat it. Same with 'ma ma ma" and "da da da". He'll also talk in what we can his "Pirate Voice". It's a raspy, lower pitched voice. It's just so neat to see your child making those connections.

Our last year and 1/2 has been an absolute roller coaster. In looking at pictures of Tracey and I just a year or so ago, we looked so much younger. Sure, we're getting older, but I really feel that this past year and 1/2 has taken a lot out of us. I'm not complaining. It's just the way life goes sometimes.

And looking back at how small Colby was, I had no reference to compare him to. I knew he was small.....but now looking back...ow my god!!!! He wasn't small, he was down right tiny! And look at him now. He's got big giggly cheeks, meat on his legs and arms and enough strength to give us a hard time if he doesn't want to put a shirt on or something like that.

Yes, he has a shunt in his head. Yes, he's behind. Yes, there are still unanswered questions about his future. But given where he's come from, he's come so long and I'm teary-eyed to write that my son is doing so well!!!

Our little boy is just that now....... not so much a preemie, but a little growing boy. I thank those of you who follow his story. I thank you for your interest in his well being and for your support. I hope one day Colby can look back, read his story from way before he can remember and feel proud of himself for accomplishing so much and for touching so many people's lives.

Some pics

(Colby's been making this face every so often now. He'll blow out of his nose and because his lip is right up against his nose, it makes a sound as if you were to breath really hard in and out of your nose.)


Gramma Vikki got Colby a new hat for the colder weather. It fits him wonderfully. Thank you gramma Vikki!!!

More videos, Colby trying to crawl and then playing with daddy

Colby was more vocal tonight, so I grabbed the camera. He's doing so well with trying to crawl. Tonight was the first time I've seen him move from left to right like he did.

Some videos

It's been a while since I posted any videos, so I kept the camera handy this weekend and took some video of the Colbster. I was hoping to get Colby in a talkative mood, but I swear he knows when the camera is on him. He'll be chatting away and then when I turn the camera on and start recording, he becomes all serious. LOL

You can see his new glasses in the video below. He does really well with keeping them on. He does this thing with his lips that's really cute. Now it's to the point that if you do it he'll mimic you.

The below video is a rather simple one. But I love to see him problem solve. He loves his little treats. Here, he apparently dropped one and was looking for it. He then turned his attention to his glasses, got them taken away....and....cried.

And lastly, him in the tub and with mommy tonight. He loves him mommy and for good reason. Tracey is sooooo good with Colby!

I'll continue to try to get him babbling away. Hope you liked the videos.

Colby's new glasses

(Colby clears his throat and begins to read..."Once upon a time......"

(Colby says "Well mom, let me see here. I'll take a look a this thing now that I can actually see what I'm looking at and tell you all about it.)

( If any of you watch Jake and Kate Plus 8, you may remember Joel. He's one of their 8 kids and has glasses. Sometimes Colby reminds me of him now that he too has glasses)

(I love this picture. )

Colby got his glasses yesterday. He doesn't seem to mind them too much. I was thinking that he'd try to pull him off his face constantly. But he'll try for the first minute or so when you put them on. Once he knows that we won't let him take them off, he gives up. Then about 5 or 10 minutes later, we'll look over at him and he'll have his glasses in his hands. That's OK, all in time.

He went through a short phase this past week of being cranky and not quite himself. We wondered if his top teeth were finally coming in. But still nothing there. Then we thought he was getting a cold because his nose was running, he was coughing and his eyes were puffy....but not it's pretty much gone away. We also thought he had a touch of pink eye because he was rubbing his eyes, they were red and he'd have gunk in them. So the doctor gave us some medicine. Now that's gone too. It's so difficult when someone can't tell you what's wrong...you just have to guess.

My mom comes to our house every Tuesday and stays over night into Wednesday. She's an absolute god sent! Tracey works Tuesday afternoons into the evening and Wednesday during the day. I need to keep my schedule busy so having mom here every week allows us to work My mom took Colby over to her house this week. The break was wonderful for Tracey and I. We missed Colby dearly, but I think it's healthy to get some time to recharge and keep things in balance. It was great to have him back home though!

We were a bit of Halloween scrooges yesterday. We didn't dress Colby up. Tracey was out running Evan around to his father's house from 5pm to around 7pm (prime trick or treating time). I was in the office until about 7. It just didn't work. At Colby's age, he doesn't know the difference anyway. Next year, I hope he's able to get into it a bit more.

Developmentally, Colby is still moving along, slowly but surely. He's gaining some strength with his arms and is tolerating his belly time much better. He's more comfortable rolling onto his side. He still won't roll from his back to his belly. If he accidentally finds himself on his belly, he'll usually try to flip onto his back. It is difficult at times when I see other one year olds crawling around or starting to walk....then there's Colby, still just sitting there. But his time will come.

I do believe that with children like Colby, they need extra guidance to get them crawling, walking etc. I think in some ways it's a bit too easy to simply let things slide....but I really feel the best thing I can do for him is to support him, love him, but try to help him catch up as quickly as he can. It doesn't do him one bit of good to be behind. I plan to work with him today on his belly time. We've found that once he learns to do something, he progresses rather well, it's jut a matter of getting him to do it.

So that's the latest in our Colby's journey. Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween.