coy, thomas, and macey

"hey cousin, wanna play?"
"okay, sure."
"hey, no GIRLS allowed!"
"haha, we got her!"

"okay, lets sit up!"
you're a pretty girl, miss macey!

appt update

Coy had two appointments today, the first was with the High risk Pedi and the second was the Pulmonologist. The High risk pediatrician (he will follow up with them until about 2 yrs old) thought he looked awesome and was really impressed with his weight gain and growth (16 lbs, 26 inches long). She did notice some high tone in his legs, however, stated, "I'm not worried about it because he's doing so well otherwise." High muscle tone can be a sign of Cerebral Palsy, (which Coy has a higher risk of having due to his extreme prematurity). We don't need to follow up for another 6 months, and in the meantime, we will continue to do therapy and keep a close eye on his development.

The Pulmonologist explained the Sleep study results to me and I tried to explain to her that it doesn't add up with Coy. He's not having apneas at home, his monitor is not going off, he's growing, developing, active....he's clinically not "starved" of oxygen. I'm not saying the test results are wrong, I just am having a hard time putting the two together. They are still recommending we see a Neurologist to check out his brain development....we have an appt on Oct 22nd. Please continue to pray for Coy's continued healing and growth. He's doing so amazing and we feel so blessed and thankful.

In between our appointments, we ventured over to the NICU where Coy "lived" for his first 4 months of life. We were able to see 3 of the most amazing nurses that took care of our little man; they loved him like he was one of their own. Part of our heart belongs to these people and we will never forgot them. They were rays of light during our darkest hours, and not only did they take care of Coy, they took care of Chris and I, too.

Sorry, no new pics this week. Mommy's been slacking. Little man is busy and wild these days. He's sitting up for brief periods of time and now loves to be on his hands and knees rocking back and forth. He's also cutting his second tooth! And, I guess he's in his "separation anxiety" stage. It seems he gets really upset when mommy or daddy aren't around. I wonder how long this will last. =)

Thanks for all your love and encouragement! We love you back!

Good news!

Coy had his 6 month (adjusted age) physical therapy evaluation today. I am so excited to report that it went wonderfully and little man performed at his best! He evaluated in the 75% for his corrected age and 10% for his actual age! This is a big accomplishment because in the previous evaluations, he didn't even reach his actual age development chart. We are now working on sitting up and flexion of his hip. I was so relieved and happy that our hard work is paying off. Thanks for all the continued prayers and support; we are so unbelievably grateful.

I've been a little picture happy this week...

Coy is getting frustrated that he can't get to his toys....
so, he tought he'd try to crawl like a big boy...but couldn't quite get it down...
he smiled on cue! must be all the practice! =)
Look at me sitting up!

family photo...but Coy didn't want any part of it...=)
and, he loved his bananas...he even wanted to lick his bowl.

Wild Thing

big miracle

We continue to be blessed by the good Lord with our sweet little angel. He's growing and changing everyday and his personality is really developing! I really can't believe how fast he's growing!

Coy, my mom, sister (she's 24 weeks pregnant!), and I were at Babies R Us today and Coy was just talking up a storm. My mom noticed his tooth was sticking up further and pointed it out to me. For some reason, I thought to myself, "oh, my gosh, my baby has a tooth, he's growing up too fast!" Of course, this brought tears to my eyes. And, I'm really not a cry-er--I didn't cry when I got engaged, didn't cry when I got married, didn't cry when I discovered I was pregnant--it's not that I'm not happy, I'm just not a cry-er. But seeing my baby's tooth--that made me cry! I remember those days so clearly when I didn't think he was going to make it out of the hospital, and now, he's the greatest most beautiful blessing I could have ever wished and hoped for!

Coy has started something new that also brings tears to my eyes....he's grabbing his feet! Oh my gosh, I can't tell you how happy I was to see this. It's an important milestone and we worked so hard with him...and finally, he did it! He is just an amazing little man. We are now working on sitting up! Due to Hurricane Ike, we unfortunately had to reschedule two therapy appointments. I am eager to see how his evaluation is this month. He's muscle tone is still slightly tighter than normal, however, it is improving with massage. We massage his arms and legs twice a day with lotion and stretch him out! It really is important for me to remember, "all babies develop at their own rate." I can get a little panic-y when I think he's falling behind....but he always seems to amaze me and do things on his own schedule. Please pray for Coy's continued development and growth! He's now 15 lbs 14 oz...and definitely has grown in length (although I don't have a recent length).

We don't have much going on this week...just lots of playing! Some things Coy loves these days...his exersaucer, all his teething toys, smiling, laughing at Sugar Pie & Dixie, squealing, talking, playing with his feet, and flirting with all the girls! =)

Here are some pics of him playing in his Bumbo seat today...

sweet boy

Coy was curious what was happening outside the morning after the hurricane...Sleepy babies...

We're Okay (Thank you Jesus)

We are so thankful that we made it through the storm without difficulty. It was VERY scary and we will definitely going think twice before "sticking it out" again. It was a Category 2/almost Cat 3 at landfall and it was frightening. We can't even imagine a what a Cat4-5 feels like.

With that said, most of our city has seen great destruction with trees and power lines down, houses destroyed, and flooding. The rain has yet to cease therefore causing flooding in areas it wasn't expected. By the grace of God, our house has power, water, and TV, however, most of Houston continues to be without these. Please continue to pray for people to stay safe, for the power to be turned back on as quickly as possible, for flooding to be minimal, for the rain to stop, and for all those who have lost their homes, cars, and valuables. These are all replaceable, however, still emotional and overwhelming.

Hurricane Ike

Just a quick post to let everyone know we are sheltering-in-place as recommended for Hurricane Ike. This storm is about to take a direct hit on our beautiful city and we are getting prepared the best we can. Please pray for God to provide shelter and safety to everyone in Hurricane Ike's path. We are going to stay with my sister & brother-in-law (they live close by) because they have a generator which will provide electricity if we lose power (which is expected). I admit that I have suffered from "hurricane fatigue" over the past week thinking that Ike would go elsewhere and we had nothing to worry about. I was wrong! Again, thanks for all the prayers! I will update again as soon as possible!

I'm ticklish!

This sweet laugh makes my day and I'm hoping it makes yours too! I'm tickling him here, but he has started laughing on his own as well. Hope everyone has a blessed Monday!

bath time!

Coy seems to be enjoying his baths these days. In case you're wondering what I'm doing with the wash cloth, Coy loves shaking objects in front of him (burp cloths, toys, etc), so I'm keeping him entertained. Also, please excuse our barking dogs; they were fighting over a bone or toy or something. Anyway, enjoy our little bath time lovin little man!

chubby baby

Today was our monthly eye check-up with the great, Dr. Hittner. I went in fully confident that everything was okay, and sure enough, it was. She said his eyes look "great" and now doesn't need to see him back for 6 weeks. That was music to my ears! Dr. Hittner also asked what I was feeding him because he was "chubby." =) He is now 15 lbs 3 oz.

Our little "chubby" baby continues to eat his rice cereal mixed with applesauce twice daily. A few days ago, I also started him on his first vegetable, peas. He made the funniest face of disgust upon the first taste, however, soon took a liking to them. He is really turning into a champion eater and loves siting his is big boy high chair!

(Doesn't he look amused??)


This past Saturday, Coy cut his first tooth (front, bottom tooth)! FINALLY! After all these months of drooling and chewing. (Vicki, are you ready for another Kolkhorst?) =) It's so funny to watch him attempt to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. He is reaching for toys, wanting to play with the remotes/cell phones, loves sitting at the table (on my lap) and grabbing at my plate/beating on the table. He is maturing by the day, and seriously, the cutest thing I've ever seen. That's not biased, huh?

We are working hard on his therapy. I am getting concerned that he still isn't interested in his feet. I will lift them up and he'll grab them right away, but he will not lift them up himself. He does lift them some, but not enough to grab them. I am also concerned in regards to the tightness in his shoulders/arms. We are doing infant massage twice daily and seeing some improvement, however, he still carries a lot of tension in his shoulders. We return for another evaluation next Friday. Please pray for him to continue to develop daily and reach all his milestones! I have let the "what ifs" plaque me lately, and I admit, it makes me panic. "What if" he stops developing, what if he doesn't walk, talk, go to school, throw a ball??? I have found peace in knowing God created him perfect and whole and He made no mistake when He created Coy. Who am I to question His authority?

We are doing our best to keep Coy's oxygen on at night. I have to wait until he is good and asleep or else it's a war of wills. He does fight it even when he's asleep, but not near as much. We usually wake up to find the cannula is either resting between his eyes or in his mouth, but we still continually monitor him with our pulse ox and never is he below 96. There really is no good solution to keeping the oxygen on because he is very strong, and even with tape, will rip it right off his face.

We are so appreciative of the continued love and support! Hope everyone has a blessed weekend!

water baby