Gus on TV (again)

Jill and Gus were at the March of Dimes prematurity awareness day at our March of Dimes branch and were once again interviewed for Dayton's Local 12 (WDTN) news.

Click the link below to see the video...



Here is A LINK to the report on the station's website.

Gus continues to be an inspiration to us all thanks to your many prayers and the efforts of the March of Dimes!

Peace,
Gregg

Gus' First Haircut

Gus had his first haircut last Friday. He seemed to like it well enough - hair in the eyes and the electric trimmer weren't so fun though!


OK, not so bad...


I'm thinking this will be pretty good.


Hey - watch the eyes!


Not the electric clippers!


Looking sharp!

Tubes and Walking

Gus had ear tubes put in on 9/26/07 - everything went really well and by the evening he was back to his funny self. He is now 33 inches long and 22lbs 8oz! Such a big boy!

Here are some quick videos of Gus taking his first steps...





Peace,
Gregg, Jill and Gus

Gus Likes to Dance

Any music will do! Here he is with his "ABC Ball"...



And drive his "car"...

Videos - June 10, 2007

June 10 was Gus' real due date - so these videos were taken on his "adjusted" first birthday. We will obviously continue to celebrate his real birthday, February 26, but this is a milestone year for him...


Eating with a Fork


Giggle Crazy!

Gus is Home

After a day at Children's of Dayton, Gus is home. Needless to say, Jill's night was not very restful... Gus was discharged at 5:00pm this evening (6/13/07) and is now sleeping well. We were told to keep him in as cold of an environment as is possible. We put the pack-n-play in the basement and have turned the AC way down. He seems happy as usual, a little rattling cough, but not nearly as heavy as last night.

Thanks for the comments and prayers!

Blessings,
Gregg, Jill and Gus

Gus @ Dayton Children's Hospital

Image016.jpg
Originally uploaded by Gregg Brekke.

Here is a phone photo of Gus sleeping at Children's Hospital in Dayton on 6/12/07. He had a barking cough - it was croup with stridor. For any other kid it would be a cold. Many preemies are especially prone to croup/stridor because of the scarring done to their throats by being intubated.

We arrived at the emergency room around 6:15pm and Gus was finally admitted to a room around midnight after a few breathing treatments and a dose of long-lasting steroid. Jill and Gus stayed the night and Gus is up now (8:30am) eating and feeling OK. They will administer more breathing treatments to clear up his airway and watch through the day. If all goes well he will be home this afternoon...

Peace,
Gregg

Too quiet...

Proving that when kids are playing nicely on their own and it is very quite – something is up… Diaper wipes this time!

More Videos

Here are some videos taken with my Canon Powershot A640 camera - pretty amazing for a P&S digital. They are much higher resolution on my PC but the uploaded files get resized for distribution.

March of Dimes Walk - Kenosha, WI

March of Dimes Walk - Dayton, OH

Little Video

Here is a quick "flash" video of Gus crawling around and standing up...

13 Months and March of Dimes!

We have once again organized "Team Gus" for the March of Dimes. There is a link to the right or you can click HERE too. Our local walk is at Wright State University in Dayton, OH but this year you can sign up to walk for Team Gus ANYWHERE there is a walk! Very cool.

Gus LOVES the camera and is rarely without a smile when it is pointed at him...

Here is Gus crawling around at our friends home. His tractor book goes with him a lot. He pushes it to where he wants to be then crawls to that place.

Gus continues to do well at his developmental assessments - today the county's "Help Me Grow" program came out and Gus has met or exceeded all of his targets at this stage. He is crawling really well now and likes to babble a lot. He mimics sounds like "hi" and "ba" and will sing/shout when sung to.

No official height and weight recently but we think he is about 20 lbs and 30 inches long.

Peace,
Gregg, Jill and Gus

ONE YEAR OLD!!!

Well, the day in here that seemed so impossible a year ago! Gus has turned ONE!!! When he was born the doctor said "his condition is very grim" and indications were that he may not live past his first 24 hours. Then it was 48. Then one week. Then his first surgery. And so it goes - 365 wonderful days later he has beaten the odds and blessed us amazingly. We acknowledge that Gus would not be here without the dedication, expertise, love and prayers of so many people. Family, friends, doctors, nurses and a fair share of complete strangers who came to know and carry "Big Gus" in their hearts through his blog.

Happy Birthday Boy Gus - most usually with a smile on his face and a mission! Here we were playing chase around the kitchen island. He is a pretty fast crawler and is a good sport about having his picture taken as we scoot around.

A few pictures of Gus in the chair that was mine any my sister's when we were kids. (Correction, this is MY chair. My grandmother had given me and my sister each one. Hers is still in North Dakota...) The solemn pose...

Mr. Bright Eyes.

with giggles... You can sort of see his tooth that is poking through on the bottom!

Gus and his beautiful mommy - Jill. We were reminiscing that we got more sleep last night than the night before Gus arrived. I'm glad not to be sleeping on one of the hospital's chair/sleeper contraptions tonight!!!

Thank you all for continuing to follow Gus' miraculous life. We are again organizing "Team Gus" for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica this year so details will be coming.

We haven't had an official weight and length in a big but we will get one tomorrow at Gus' one year check-up. We're guessing he is somewhere between 18 and 19 pounds (8.1-8.6kg) and around 28-29 inches (71-74cm)long. He is catching up and healthy in every way.

Peace,
Gregg, Jill and Gus

New Year - New Fun

Happy 2007 to all our dear friends and family! A quick update from the Holidays until now... Gus is now 16.5 pounds and around 28" long. He loves to bounce and babble and giggle. It is rare to find him without a smile on his face, even when he wakes up in the morning!

As you can see Gus loves his oatmeal and fruit! He enjoys any vegetable - mixed is his favorite - and most fruits. He still isn't crazy about meat but friend Janie B assures us she'll teach us how to cook with tofu if needed!

Gus (and Gregg) love to do acrobatics. Here Gus is practicing his "look at me balance on Daddy's hand" trick. It freaks Jill out a little and almost every other mother out there - but Gus grins from ear to ear and loves to show of his new skills.

Santa's Little Helper in one of his many Christmas outfits received from friends. Thanks to all - Gus did get to wear each of them at least once...

Paper, paper, paper! Oh, there are presents too? Gus really loved the process of ripping paper and trying to get it into his mouth. He enjoys all his toys - lots of pounding, sorting, learning and singing going on in the house right now.

As Gus' one year birthday approaches in only six weeks we are thankful for the great progress he has made. Other than taking a few extra months to catch up developmentally (weight and length) he has no other noted physical or mental problems at this point. He is on track with the social/physical development of a eight-month old so continues to progress toward his "real age" against this adjusted age. We know we are blessed to have Gus doing so well and attribute it to the great faith and love of our many friends and family.

Grateful for each day,
Gregg, Jill and Gus