Jackson's Journey in March

Hello Family and Friends,

Well, March is has come and almost gone and we are very thankful to have had such a wonderful month filled with many blessings. We thank God everyday for Jackson, for everyone who is praying for him and for all the medical staff that took such great care of our little boy. Our March journey has been full of fun and exciting things for Jackson. First Jackson's age is 6 months old! WOW -6 months can you believe it (6 months as of March 23rd). Jackson's corrected age almost 3 months. We are thankful for each and every day, hour and minute. Jackson this month is talking up a storm, even seems to sing along with his new 5-1 play gym that mostly he kicks, but as of today- he used his hands to make his toys roll. You would have thought his parents won the lottery with how excited they got when he started to use his hands on the toy. Jackson definitely is a thumb sucker and he continues to cuddle with his burp cloths, blankets, mom or dad's top, or pretty much anything he can grab ahold of. We love it. We have seen so many more smiles out of Jackson this month which of course makes mom and dad less stressed. When we feed Jackson we look down at his chunky legs and his little fat rolls and just take in how thankful we are! Jackson also has noticed when the TV is on, so we keep the TV off most of the time. He does get to watch the NCAA tournament while he plays with his toys and with us. We are sad that Jackson had to retire his MSU attire on game days due to MSU losing last week. However, Jackson still has OSU in the tournament and continues to sport his OSU outfits on game days. We also are using flashcards for Jackson and we can't believe that we can get through the entire deck of flashcards without boring him. We are very pleased at how Jackson is taking everything in. Jackson also likes to chat on Skype. He visits with Nanna and Pappa Shepard, Aunt Aimee and Uncle Brad, Uncle Matt and Aunt Nicole, Tom and Lore, The Drees Family and we had a special treat this month as Jackson was able to visit with St. Martin's Parish Council and Nanna Shepard's RESA friends. Jackson loves video conferencing and he likes to watch videos of himself on the computer. He also likes the books we read to him. Right now is favorit books are: Sandra Boynton series, "Little Engine that Could", and "Goodnight Moon". He takes in the pictures and loves it when mom and dad change their voice to sound like the character in the book.
(Jackson talking with Nanna and Pappa Shepard)

Mom keeps telling Jackson that it won't be long and we can get out the house and check out parks, maybe a trip to the zoo or IKEA. These trips will all be in June time frame which we are looking forward to as not only are we able to get out and socialize but Nanna and Pappa Shepard and Grandma and Grandpa Spiess finally get to come down to see Jackson ! We will at the end of April /Beginning May follow the guidance provided by the doctors and stick to walks verses going all over town. We also are very excited that a very important walk is coming up and that is the March of Dimes Walk-May 12th. We hope that Jackson will be able to go in the walk but time will tell. However, dad or mom will DEFINITELY be at the walk. Jackson's walk page is: http://www.walkamerica.org/Jacksonsjourney

Well, now on to the doctor visits. Only one for this month- can you believe it! March 16th- 9 a.m. appointment at Austin Children's Chest Associates: Jackson gets his RSV shot and we find out this is the last shot for this season. They informed us that they judge RSV season by how many cases come into the area hospitals. Therefore, we do not need to get a shot in April for Jackson.





We finally have loaded more pictures onto Jackson's website, http://spiess-archives.phanfare.com/album/195814. Feel free to check them out. These are pictures of Jackson from Janaury to March. Mom thought they had been loaded last month but she must have done something wrong as when she went to update the file, she didn't see any pictures. They are for sure on the website this time!

We can't thank everyone enough for all the prayers! We are very thankful for how Jackson is doing and we know it is due to all the prayers out there for him. We hope this blog finds everyone healthy and happy.

With love,
The Spiess Family
(Kyle, Erica and Jackson)