From Baby To Boy

We all definitely have the Spring bug now, and I can especially say that Grayson loooooves being outside. We had a great (and busy) weekend, spending Friday evening with Grandpa and Grandma Schmidt - note the great pics!

We also went to our neighbor Kailee's 2nd birthday party on Saturday, and attended the NICU reunion on Sunday afternoon, where Grayson was reunited with one of his primary care nurses, Lindsay (see pic). It was amazing to see the sheer number of kids around, and to see the various states of health of the kids. As we think about another child some day, I can't help but have some memories and images stay in my head about preemies and bedrest...however, I am a stronger and better person, and would be ready for anything if our future kids could turn out like Grayson.

Russ and I continue to be amazed at our child's growth from a baby to a little boy - every day, and nearly every minute we see something new, whether it be all the things he now says or repeats back to us to how much he moves and loves to run free. Life gets pretty crazy, but I am seeing the value of stepping back and just looking at things like I've never seen them before - and Grayson's curiosity is endless. Just this morning, as we walked up the daycare driveway, a squirrel ran out and scurried around the yard - we quietly watched its actions, and talked about what it did. As soon as we got inside, Grayson told Margaret about it in his own way, and pointed to the squirrel outside. I'm sure to the average person it seems like an everyday thing, but he his growing up so fast!

Grayson loves to help - and he is very capable, especially when feeding the dogs or putting things away. Our daycare teacher says he loves to pick up and throw sticks, and we've seen his great arm as he's taken our landscape rocks and thrown them - of course, into the pond right away, and then he took aim at a car...needless to say, we stopped that quickly. He also showed a love for basketball this weekend (Daddy would be proud) when our neighbor helped him "shoot hoops" in the big-people hoop at their house. Grayson loves his hang time on the net!