Kolby's Arrival

We arrived at Alaska Air Cargo two minutes before the scheduled landing of his plane; or so we thought. We walked into the lobby and were greeted with our Volunteer Welcome Waggin' with the words of, "Do you hear your baby?" Barks and whimpers were coming from behind the windowed door to the warehouse section of Air Cargo.

Once the paperwork was complete, they wheeled out his kennel and we all fell in love. He is simply adorable. His fluffy face was all pushed forward with his deep brown eyes giving us the plead to let him out, now!

We snuggled for a bit and then it was time for the bathroom where he immediately went. Thank you, Kolby! More snuggles and pictures were taken before we left for home.

I asked my parents to join me in Kolby's pickup. I am so glad that they were free and said yes. It was not a hard sell. My husband has had a whirlwind of a week at work attending off-site meetings, which meant that today was his catch-up day that he could not afford to miss any minutes of. And my children had already missed three days of school (which took more than three days to make-up) just weeks ago in order to travel to California for Haddie's Turn-In. Missing another day, no matter how exciting this day was, was not going to happen. Thankfully, they understood without much protesting.

Luckily our school district has half-day Fridays, so I only had two hours alone with Kolby before we went to get the kids. He explored the house for a few minutes, watered and bathroomed, and then he was ready for a nap. We snuggled, of course. It was very relaxing.

My daughter is released first from school, so Kolby and I parked in the lot and waited for her to come to us. She brought two friends - it was fun for her to show off Kolby. And then she held him for the ride to pickup her brother. There is a 45 minute delay between letting out the two schools, so she had some quality time with Kolby. He slept most of it under the warmth of the sunshine that came out to welcome him home.

When my son came out, he was followed by two of his teachers, and my very dear friend! It was a nice surprise that she was working as a Guest Teacher at his school today, and learned that Kolby would be at the car waiting for my son. It was nice for my son to feel the support and interest of his teachers, and especially exciting to see our sweet friend.

The rest of the evening was another visit from my parents with the routine of playtime and sleep time for Kolby. I will say that our adrenaline kept us going until dinner time. And now we are running low on energy. I am hoping that Kolby sleeps well all-night-long.

His sleep pattern today has been very interrupted, causing him to sleep in short spurts. He was vocal in the beginning about his kennel, but is learning (and will continue to learn) his own way to soothe himself and put himself back to sleep. I know that this will pass, and so I am not too concerned. I also know that when it does pass, it means the little guy has gotten bigger, and I know I want that part to go slowly.

At this stage in Kolby's life he enjoys a good cuddle, and lots of love. He walks with a tumble to his step as he continues to understand his coordination. He has a playful streak - enjoying chew toys that he can enjoy laying down, before he gets up to move three steps, only to lay back down again. His eyes melt me, truly the soft Golden Retriever in him. He loves his kennel stuffed with fluffy blankets, and a sweet puppy-proof soft wooly lamb toy that my daughter named Kanga after Kolby's mom.

The first day has been perfect. Kolby's Arrival - simply the best!

**Any picture where Kolby's eyes are closed was the result of him sleeping, not of him blinking. Obviously it was a long adventurous day for Kolby as most of our pictures show his eyes closed. (not all of them were posted here). Too cute.