Three Months

Grayson turned 3 months old recently. What a big boy! He has finally started noticeably filling out (until about a week ago he was still wearing his NEWBORN clothes). At his 2 month check-up in April he was in the 5th percentile for his age in height and weight. I've always wondered who "those people" are down in the lower percentiles, and as it turns out, it's us! However, the doc wasn't too worried because he is so strong developmentally AND he had a great weight gain in the last 3 weeks. I think he just got a little behind because of his feeding issues early on. And it has been fun for him to still be so little! He now weighs 11 lbs. 4 oz.

His new skills:

1. Trying to hold his bottle
2. Smiling and talking to us all the time
3. Following Hank everywhere with his eyes
4. Discovering his feet by splashing in the tub
5. Reaching for things

and for the BIG FINALE.......sleeping between 7 and 9 hours every night!!!!

In his Bumbo chair


Having fun with the tissue paper at the Doctor's office

Mother's Day- what a fun day with my boys!

June 8th is a BIG day for Team Dickerson- so check back on that day to find out WHY!

Walk to Cure Diabetes

This year I had the privilege of teaching Maggie and John in my kindergarten class. Maggie and John both have Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. What this means for them is that because their pancreas's do not produce insulin on their own they have to carefully monitor their blood sugar and inject themselves with insulin several times a day. Since they were diagnosed at about 3 years old, their parents and now they prick their finger for blood 10+ times a day to maintain healthy sugar levels. When they started kindergarten we began working them towards being more independent in caring for their disease. Maggie jumped right in and can even use her own insulin pump (with adult guidance and observation) and although John needed a little extra time to focus on the task at hand (he is a little BOY, after all) they were checking themselves in the classroom multiple times a day within a few months. Of course, I have learned an ENORMOUS amount about how serious diabetes is, how to care for yourself, and what a scary thing it can be.

The neatest thing though, has been getting to know these children and their families. I have been so blessed to watch these parents work so hard and sacrifice to keep their kids so healthy that they are having a wonderful childhood, participating in every activity and experience a kid should. An outsider would never know that Maggie and John have a life-threatening disease that requires constant vigilance.

Maggie- very intelligent, quite the thinker, always showering me with hugs and now Grayson with kisses. She has two younger brothers (one born 3 days after Grayson) and is a great helper to Mom. Sometimes we catch her getting John's stuff ready for him to check and cleaning up after him! :)

John- always wants to do the right thing- very black and white, and wants to make sure everyone else is doing the right thing too (but surprisingly not in an annoying way, he is just genuinely concerned), very smart and can read people, quite the ladies man.

On Sunday, June 7th our family will be participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk for the Cure. I am walking for John's Buddies Team and Joe will walk for Maggie's Muscle Team. Grayson will be there to look cute. Of course, we are raising money for research and it is SUPER easy to donate! We would really appreciate a donation of even $5 or $10. To donate for Maggie's Muscle click here. To donate for John's Buddies click here. THANK YOU!

And now, pictures of Grayson, as we haven't put new ones up in awhile.

Meeting a new friend, Taylor. Look at that smile- he's all about the ladies!

Already starting to work that lip!



After eating I sometimes sit him on the couch to help with his reflux. If he falls over he usually screams; this day he was so tired he fell face down and just stayed there.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Bonding

I promise this is not a set-up; just what happens when Grayson gets hungry and starts crying. And don't worry- I picked him up and comforted him right away (after shooting the great video!). Oh, and make sure the sound is on.

Further Proof

...that we are losing our minds.

The other day I went looking for the turkey in the fridge to make myself a sandwich. Except after searching every shelf and pulling every item out of every drawer (just in case I was looking at it and not seeing it) I didn't find it. I had just bought the turkey 2 days before and thought surely Joe hadn't finished it off already. Cue phone call to Joe at work. "Wasn't it in the fridge? In the meat drawer? I made a sandwich for lunch this morning, is the cheese in there?" "Yes, Joe, it is, but no turkey." We get off the phone and I look in the trash. Nope. Pantry? Nope.

Ahhh, yes. Of course, with the ziploc containers in the cabinet!

(notice I said our minds; I have pulled several similar stunts since Grayson has been born)

We Mustered

No, not the condiment.

Muster is the day each year that Aggies gather to honor the fallen Aggies of the past year. If you live within 100 miles of an Aggie you are expected to get together, eat a little, and talk over the old days. Muster is held all over the world every April 21st and is one of the neatest Aggie traditions.

We have attended the National Capital Muster for the last few years and were excited to take Grayson to his first official Aggie event last night. Our friend Regan, a buddy of Joe's from the Corps and a Marine, was in charge of the event last night and did a fantastic job. It was held at the Officer's Club on Fort Meyer which is right next to Arlington National Cemetery. I would say there were a few hundred people in attendance from Class of '56 to Class of '31 (2031 that is, Grayson).

Grayson did a fabulous job, hanging on to every word of the keynote speaker's address. Every time there was a loud Whoop! he would jump, startled. He didn't fall asleep until we started singing the Aggie War Hymn, go figure. But I think he enjoyed the swaying as I held him while we "Saw'd Varsity's Horns Off".

Joe '02, Grayson '31, Ashleigh '03, Regan '02

Oh, and I know we promised some new last week, but to play it safe we're waiting one more week...soon, though!

Easter

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

We had two wonderful meals, lunch and dinner, with friends. No Easter outfit or basket for Grayson this year, he didn't go to church to show off an outfit and the basket would have been for photo ops only. Next year we'll be good parents and go all out.

Grayson finally discovered the bunny that hangs above his chair. He accidentally hit it and was absolutely delighted.

The fam at Easter dinner at the Green's

Have a great week and stay tuned for hopefully some big news later on this week...

Feeding

We had a beautiful weekend here in DC. We have begun to look at houses/townhouses to buy now that it is a buyer's market and the process is exciting and stressful. It was definitely a more pleasant experience when house hunting in South Carolina.

To give you a glimpse at the main event in Grayson's life, I introduce you to the atrocity in our house we call "feeding":

He has to eat sitting up to help with his reflux and is usually kept naked so that he will stay awake. The look on his face says it all.

This is his favorite part of feeding.

I have to brag on my husband. On the weekends he does the night and early morning feeding so that I get a full night's sleep- amazing. It really helps me face another week of waking up in the middle of the night.

Now I have to brag on our sweet friends from SC, the Danfords. Because we now live 7 hours apart, they couldn't drop a meal by after we had the baby (a part of Southern culture), but that didn't stop them! On Thursday night a huge cooler of food (Roast beef, mashed potatoes, peas, biscuits and an APPLE PIE) arrived on our doorstep from the Schwan's man. What a blessing and so delicious!
I would also like to take the time now to give a shout out to all of our friends that have brought food to the house or the hospital: The Armors, Greens, Gazuli, Wiles, Leonards, and Williams. (And of course our moms for cooking amazing food while they were here, and dad for doing dishes!) We are so thankful!!!