1st Halloween

Greyson's first Halloween was a busy one with friends visiting (thanks Hicklin's) and making some Trick or Treating stops around town and through our neighborhood(not as many as we would have liked). We finished off the day with Gramps and Grandma B coming over for dinner. The skunk costume was a great find at Old Navy the weekend before Halloween. The last one and it was actually his size (which is now 6-9 months).

The most exciting thing of the day was finding that Greyson has a little tooth coming in (see picture). Not sure how long it will take to make its way out but how exciting it was to see that little tooth pushing through. It was so exciting in fact that Michael even stopped playing his video game to check it out. Greyson doesn't seem to mind it much for now; he just continues to chew and drool on everything.
I uploaded some pictures to the Photo Gallery and although they didn't load in the correct order I am sure you can figure it out. Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful Fall.
Brooke (Michael & Greyson)

Surgery Date Set

After much coordination one of the great nurses (Michelle) at Children's Mercy has found a date for Greyson's big surgery. She worked very hard to get the 2 plastic surgeons and one general surgeon together on a date that would work for all of them and Greyson and it looks like surgery will be in the afternoon on January 27. They expect it to last a few hours.

Greyson has 3 more months to get even bigger and stronger (which shouldn't be hard since he loving eating solid foods). It seems so far away but in the grand scheme of things it is just around the corner. With the holiday's just around the corner it will most likely fly by.

To our knowledge, he will not have to go back to KC until the day before surgery (for blood work) and we expect that he might have to stay in the hospital for a handful of nights and will then be back home to finish recovery.

Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers. We talk about you all with Greyson so that he knows how many people love him :)Happy Halloween to you all - come back and visit Greyson's site next week to see his Halloween pictures....he is going to be a skunk.

5 Months & Dr. Appointments

Today was Greyson's appointment with the doctors at Children's Mercy to begin planning his upcoming surgery. We visited with the radiologist, dermatologist and plastic surgeon along with all of their nurses. They checked in and were all very pleased with the shrinkage in Greyson's growth and the way his skin has changed. Dr. Jiang, one of the plastic surgeons that will do the surgery says that they are ready to plan and see what they can do for Greyson. Their staff is working now to try and get this scheduled and we will let everyone know as soon as there is a date. There are a lot of individuals and resources to coordinate so this could take a little time.

One of the biggest thing discussed was what to expect after surgery. The doctors want to make sure we understand that even after surgery, the chance of the growth reoccurring is possible and it is likely that he will have to have future surgeries as things progress. It seems to be the nature of this kind of "beast" and we will have to see what happens. We also talked about what to do with the spots in Greyson's right arm. For now we are going to wait and see how taking off the larger growth will affect his arm.

Greyson turns 5 months old tomorrow...he now weighs 16 pounds 2 ounces and is 26 inches long. He has gotten so strong and holds himself up well when we carry him. He is still working with the Special Instructor and Physical Therapist. They are trying to teach him how to roll over and how to sit up and he is getting so close on each but the weight of "buddy" presents some challenges.

Greyson jabbers a lot, smiles, and sometimes giggles. He is very friendly and especially loves his TV friends. He still likes to go on runs with me and will be able to continue this into the fall as soon as we get the weather shield for the stroller. This weekend Greyson is having a sleep over with my Dad and Beck when Michael and I go out of town for the night. He is also going to get to try rice cereal for the first time and get to go to his first race to see me run. Next weekend will bring on his first Maple Leaf Parade and trail ride at Gramps and Grandma B's. And he will have his first Halloween at the end of the month.

We look forward to seeing or hearing from you all. Happy Fall!
Brooke (Michael & Greyson)