It's been awhile since our last post. My does time get away? Things are going very well with the entire family. Our only family "hiccup" in the past few weeks was with Shelby, our 10 yr old black lab. She tore her cruciate ligament while frolicking in the snow a few weeks ago, and had to have reconstructive surgery (two weeks ago today). She is getting around pretty well and has only a minor limp. She will need to take it easy for several months as her hind leg/knee continues to heal. Hershey and Annie are doing well, and Annie still likes to lick and nuture Colby. The dogs would be thrilled to know that they were updated/discussed before you know who.
Colby is doing fantastic. He is eating well, sleeping well, and continues to light up a room with his "quick" smile. He is quite a ham, and a flirt. Our current nickname for him is "Mr. Sunshine" or just "sunshine" because he is generally happy and smiling (unless of course overly tired or real hungry). The "solids" that he is now eating (rice cereal and peas or green beans) seems to help him be "more regular," which is nice. The poor kid used to go #2 just once a week, and we thought that was a bit too long. He was 7 months old as of March 12, and is at at very enchanting age. We are enjoying every minute of it. Colby's nanny, Ms. Carrie, is doing great with him, and sure makes life much easier for the entire Guy household.
I am in the middle of my tax season, and I am actually updating this blog when I should be working on returns, but what difference is 10 or 15 minutes going to make? I am working alot, but can thankfully visit Colby during my lunch breaks since I live close to my office (about 2 miles). I also go home at dinner time to see him and Jennifer, and then typically head back to work after he goes down for the night. I also have inherited the morning shift from Jennifer, since she needs to be at work around 8am, and baby gets up typically around 7:30 (how nice is that?). I am not a morning person, and even when dog tired, it is relatively easy to get out of bed when I hear those little squeaks starting.
For those of you with elephant memory capability, we blogged way back in the fall about a photography exhibit that starts today (March 20) and runs through April 27 at the Halle Cultural Art Center of Apex. It is an exhibition of infant bereavement photography coordinated by Aimee Bickers of Pure Expressions photography. She was the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep volunteer photographer who took some very good pictures of Gavin and Colby, and one of those pictures will be included in the exhibit. Halle Cultural Arts Center of Apex is located at 237 North Salem Street in Historic downtown Apex. There is an opening reception tonight from 7-9pm.
sg
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Colebank attends first sports event
We got tickets to see the Carolina Hurricanes play Columbus on Valentines Day and decided that if Colby had a good nap on Saturday afternoon, we would venture out with him (good naps = good nights, generally). After a 2 hour late afternoon nap, we were on our way to the RBC center! I was thinking we may see an hour of so of hockey, but he did well (despite the noise level at times), and we actually made it well into the 3rd period. We basically left then because the Canes were taking a beating, and Colby was falling asleep. Only misstep, we will bring baby ear protection next go round (we ended up stuffing bits of napkins into his ears, which actually worked surprisingly well, kudos to Jen).
It was a big weekend. Not only did he attend his first sports outing, he also got his first taste of food! He was cleared by his Dr's to begin eating rice cereal, and with a spoon (not through a bottle). It was a good first attempt, he probably got about half of what we gave him actually down into his belly. He was interested in the food and I don't think we will have any feeding issues with him. Also, he is still sleeping very well, with only a few minor middle of the night interventions.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Colby "talk" video clip
Colby has been babbling and cooing for awhile, but I recorded one of his better "outbursts" while he was at the Dr.'s office for his 6 month check up. Excuse the quality of the video, it was recorded with my phone video function. I am pretty sure he is saying "da da" during parts of his conversation... sg
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Colby is 6 mos old today! UPDATE
My does time fly? Colby has his 6 month check up today!
He weighed in at 15 & 1/2 lbs and is measuring over 25 inches long. He is progressing nicely and is now on the percentile scale in all areas for his age, even though he was almost two months premature (that is a big deal!). If we adjusted the percentile scale to his actual due date, he would be an average size baby (50%) for the most part. The Dr said we can start him on rice cereal, and then work up to veggies and fruit baby food. He will still get most of his nutrition from milk, but it will be fun to start him on "solids" (I think). Watch for fun "food pictures" soon.
He is babbling more, and almost makes a sound that closely resembles "da da." I have been secretly working on that word with him, but it could turn out that he is saying "ma ma" or "ga ga" or who knows? He is still sleeping like a champ at night, so we are still walking on water since this is still somewhat new to us (about 10 nights straight so far!).
'til next time-
sg
He weighed in at 15 & 1/2 lbs and is measuring over 25 inches long. He is progressing nicely and is now on the percentile scale in all areas for his age, even though he was almost two months premature (that is a big deal!). If we adjusted the percentile scale to his actual due date, he would be an average size baby (50%) for the most part. The Dr said we can start him on rice cereal, and then work up to veggies and fruit baby food. He will still get most of his nutrition from milk, but it will be fun to start him on "solids" (I think). Watch for fun "food pictures" soon.
He is babbling more, and almost makes a sound that closely resembles "da da." I have been secretly working on that word with him, but it could turn out that he is saying "ma ma" or "ga ga" or who knows? He is still sleeping like a champ at night, so we are still walking on water since this is still somewhat new to us (about 10 nights straight so far!).
'til next time-
sg
Friday, February 6, 2009
Big achievement!
We are happy to report that Colby has slept through the night for 3 straight nights.
We are very hopeful that this will be the new routine for him (but are wary that babies change and "adjust" often). What a happy time for mom and dad, and well timed with dad's tax season starting to wind up. Keep your fingers crossed for continued good sleep habits...
Monday, January 26, 2009
Catch up...
UPDATE
It's been over 5 weeks since we last updated, our apologies to Colby's fan club. We have experienced many milestones in those 5 weeks, including Colebank's first Christmas, his first snow on January 20 (five inches of fresh powder!), and his baptism on January 24. Things are still going very well with him. He is holding is head up nicely (see pictures below), and is smiling and cooing alot (well, most of the time, he does have fussy moments, usually when overly tired or gassy, refer to his Christmas loot picture below!). He occasionally rolls over on his own and he likes to hold on to his bottle while drinking. We are not "making it through the night yet" but hope that is not too far away! He weighed in at just under 14lb's at his last Dr. visit two weeks ago, so I would guess he may be close to 14.5 lb's or more as of today's posting.
HOLIDAYS
Christmas was really nice for us, even though we were on the road with the entire family, dogs included. I am seriously considering purchasing a small trailer for our future travels (since we love to have our dogs with us when we can). We spent two nights in Monroe, NC with Jennifer's parents, and then visited my family in Fayetteville for two nights. Colby got so many presents, we could not take them all with us back to Raleigh. New Year's Eve was fun. We had our neighbors over for some drinks and socializing, we lit over sized sparklers with the neighbor's children (the sparklers from our wedding!), and we made it up to see the New Year! I then flew to Memphis on New Years Day to support my ECU Pirates in the Liberty Bowl (Jan 2). There were five in "our group" and we had a blast, catching some Blues on Beale, eating ribs, playing a little Black Jack in Tunica, and having fun at the Liberty Bowl, despite losing the game to Kentucky. Jennifer was a trooper "holding down the fort" with a five month old for 3 nights, but Colby, as his usual self, did not pose too many problems for her. Jen kept herself (& Colby) busy by attending a birthday party, a friend's cookout, visiting her half sister and her 3 children who stopped in for a one night visit on New Years Day, and then throwing a scrap book "crop" session. Maybe I should have stayed gone 4 nights! That never would have happened. She may have been ok with that (well, maybe not?), but I really missed her and Colby, and never had been so happy to get back home from a trip/vacation.
SNOW
Five inches! One of those rare occasions when the weather forecasters got it right (I wanted to send a congratulations card to WRAL). It was beautiful. We got some house projects completed, we got in some good sledding, and we watched some of the inauguration fanfare (good timing with the snow day, otherwise, Jen and I both would have been working). We got a good picture of Colby gazing toward the tv during the actual oath (well, the "unofficial oath"). He can someday tell his family he got to see it (and prove it with a picture). School was out for two days, but Jen and I went back to work on day 2 (a little late however).
BAPTISM
Colebank was baptised on Saturday, January 24 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. It was a very special time for us to say the least. Both Godparents traveled from Florida for the occasion. My brother Allen is Colby's "official" Godfather (fun to call him that now), and Jennifer's aunt Karen is the Godmother (her mom's sister). Father Sal presided over the mass and the Baptism, which made it even more special since we obviously share a deeper than normal connection to him, as he with us. The cathedral was packed, and Father Sal surprised us and made the usually ritualistic Catholic baptism very unique by mentioning the loss of Colby's identical twin brother and briefly updating the congregation of our difficult time back in August. Many tears flowed. It was a nice touch, but he quickly turned it into a beautiful and happy occasion with Colby and his baptism. Colby was a trooper, completely asleep the whole time and perfectly fitted in his hand made baptism gown that Jennifer's mom made from her wedding dress (see pictures below!). After the baptism, Father Sal proudly paraded Colby down the central aisle and repeated "Isn't he just beautiful?" Of course he is. It was a perfect service, and it was followed by a dinner and social at our house for the baptism attendees, including Father Sal, who normally would not commit to such a celebration (due to setting a precedent). He said he felt compelled to join us due to the unique circumstances surrounding our miracle baby and our challenging journey.
*The blue ribbons that Jen and I wore at the baptism were from the TTTS Foundation, and we wore them in remembrance of Gavin, in celebration of Colby, and for TTTS awareness. There are two small pearls embedded in the blue ribbon. ** One final note on the baptism and just as a reminder to some, Gavin was baptized sometime after midnight on August 13 at Wake Med.
sg
It's been over 5 weeks since we last updated, our apologies to Colby's fan club. We have experienced many milestones in those 5 weeks, including Colebank's first Christmas, his first snow on January 20 (five inches of fresh powder!), and his baptism on January 24. Things are still going very well with him. He is holding is head up nicely (see pictures below), and is smiling and cooing alot (well, most of the time, he does have fussy moments, usually when overly tired or gassy, refer to his Christmas loot picture below!). He occasionally rolls over on his own and he likes to hold on to his bottle while drinking. We are not "making it through the night yet" but hope that is not too far away! He weighed in at just under 14lb's at his last Dr. visit two weeks ago, so I would guess he may be close to 14.5 lb's or more as of today's posting.
HOLIDAYS
Christmas was really nice for us, even though we were on the road with the entire family, dogs included. I am seriously considering purchasing a small trailer for our future travels (since we love to have our dogs with us when we can). We spent two nights in Monroe, NC with Jennifer's parents, and then visited my family in Fayetteville for two nights. Colby got so many presents, we could not take them all with us back to Raleigh. New Year's Eve was fun. We had our neighbors over for some drinks and socializing, we lit over sized sparklers with the neighbor's children (the sparklers from our wedding!), and we made it up to see the New Year! I then flew to Memphis on New Years Day to support my ECU Pirates in the Liberty Bowl (Jan 2). There were five in "our group" and we had a blast, catching some Blues on Beale, eating ribs, playing a little Black Jack in Tunica, and having fun at the Liberty Bowl, despite losing the game to Kentucky. Jennifer was a trooper "holding down the fort" with a five month old for 3 nights, but Colby, as his usual self, did not pose too many problems for her. Jen kept herself (& Colby) busy by attending a birthday party, a friend's cookout, visiting her half sister and her 3 children who stopped in for a one night visit on New Years Day, and then throwing a scrap book "crop" session. Maybe I should have stayed gone 4 nights! That never would have happened. She may have been ok with that (well, maybe not?), but I really missed her and Colby, and never had been so happy to get back home from a trip/vacation.
SNOW
Five inches! One of those rare occasions when the weather forecasters got it right (I wanted to send a congratulations card to WRAL). It was beautiful. We got some house projects completed, we got in some good sledding, and we watched some of the inauguration fanfare (good timing with the snow day, otherwise, Jen and I both would have been working). We got a good picture of Colby gazing toward the tv during the actual oath (well, the "unofficial oath"). He can someday tell his family he got to see it (and prove it with a picture). School was out for two days, but Jen and I went back to work on day 2 (a little late however).
BAPTISM
Colebank was baptised on Saturday, January 24 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. It was a very special time for us to say the least. Both Godparents traveled from Florida for the occasion. My brother Allen is Colby's "official" Godfather (fun to call him that now), and Jennifer's aunt Karen is the Godmother (her mom's sister). Father Sal presided over the mass and the Baptism, which made it even more special since we obviously share a deeper than normal connection to him, as he with us. The cathedral was packed, and Father Sal surprised us and made the usually ritualistic Catholic baptism very unique by mentioning the loss of Colby's identical twin brother and briefly updating the congregation of our difficult time back in August. Many tears flowed. It was a nice touch, but he quickly turned it into a beautiful and happy occasion with Colby and his baptism. Colby was a trooper, completely asleep the whole time and perfectly fitted in his hand made baptism gown that Jennifer's mom made from her wedding dress (see pictures below!). After the baptism, Father Sal proudly paraded Colby down the central aisle and repeated "Isn't he just beautiful?" Of course he is. It was a perfect service, and it was followed by a dinner and social at our house for the baptism attendees, including Father Sal, who normally would not commit to such a celebration (due to setting a precedent). He said he felt compelled to join us due to the unique circumstances surrounding our miracle baby and our challenging journey.
*The blue ribbons that Jen and I wore at the baptism were from the TTTS Foundation, and we wore them in remembrance of Gavin, in celebration of Colby, and for TTTS awareness. There are two small pearls embedded in the blue ribbon. ** One final note on the baptism and just as a reminder to some, Gavin was baptized sometime after midnight on August 13 at Wake Med.
sg
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