10 Months

At 10 Months Dawson Partrick Miller...
-Is into all drawers, doors, compartments, flaps, pretty much anything that can open and shut. He pulls out everything he can and turns them into toys. He especially likes to do this with pots and pans.

-Climbs and pulls up on everything he can. Tries to pull himself on top of things.

-Shakes his head "No".

-Opens and shuts his hand toward himself. We think it means "I want something," but we are trying to teach him to use it with "Hi" and "Bye". When we do it back, he cracks up.-Loves his walker toys and bolts down the hallway, through the kitchen, and in the living room. This makes his cousins laugh!

-Gives us a cheesy smile sometimes.

-Makes a clicking noise in his mouth that we like to mimic and he laughs.

-Still LOVES peek-a-boo!
-Smiles every time we start to read his favorite books, Snuggle Puppy and Barnyard Dance

-Follows us everywhere

-Crawls at lightning speed

-Fascinated with the bathtub, toilet paper and toilet. Has yet to figure out how to flush...

-Wiggles uncontrollably when having his diaper changed.

-Starting to fight sleep

-Eats pasta, toast, pizza crust, carrots, green beans, yellow squash, oranges, apples, pears, bananas, cheerios, and little bits of all kinds of other things.

-Loves to ride on Daddy's shoulders.

-Watched his first snowfall on Christmas Eve

-Had his first stomach flu

-Investigates everything - especially electronic devices like the phone, remotes, laptop, and television. He also LOVES anything with wheels. He turns them over to figure out how the wheels work.

-Calls Daddy, Mommy, and Aunt Casey, "Mama"
-Tentatively climbs the stairs.
-Has figured out how to turn himself around on the couch or bed and get down, feet first.

I fought the stairs and - I won

It had to happen eventually. In fact, I was even wondering whether I should hasten the opportunity (not really, that's child abuse). But Dawson eventually had to fall down the stairs. It happened yesterday. I went downstairs to do laundry and didn't close the babygate behind me, then left to pick up our babysitter for the evening. Erin was with Dawson in the bedroom. The quick little crawler bolted through the open bedroom door. A few moments later, Erin wondered "is the babygate closed." No sooner had that thought crossed her mind then she heard the helpless sound of a 10 month old boy tumbling down our carpeted stairs. The final thud was followed by a full-lunged cry.

When I got home, I was shown the red bump that had appeared above his eye. I hope this doesn't sound sadistic, but I was quite proud of my boy. Dawson is getting braver and I'm allowing him more freedom, which is resulting in his falls becoming more regular while also producing less tears. The tumble down the short staircase had to happen eventually. And to know that he tumbled down, cried a bit but then had a big smile as daddy looked at his bump, well, that makes a dad pretty proud of his tough little boy.

Teething and Sinuses

I should have never written this post. The past two weeks, Dawson has been teething and has had a sinus infection, meaning he wakes up crying about every two hours. It's been pretty rough in the Miller house, with the lack of sleep. We got some medicine from the Dr. today so hopefully that will help.

That's parenting, right? Just when you think you've got something figured out you find yourself starting all over again.

I'll never write a "mission accomplished" post again.

Dear Santa...

First Christmas Special

Dawson's first tv Christmas special, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Vacuum

Dawson is fascinated with how things work and the vacuum is his largest object of fascination. He was scared of it at first but mom helped calm his fears. Now he can't get enough of the vacuum; he climbs on it, pulls it over, spins the wheels and pulls at the cord. He does however, still get scared when it makes the loud noise when the belt slips, sending him crawling to mommy.

First Words

Donnie and I have been able to pick up a few words that Dawson has started to understand. He smiles when he hears his name and when we start to read his favorite book, Snuggle Puppy. He understands Mommy and Daddy when he hears them and has started to say them in his own way - "Mama" and "Dah". My favorite time of the day is when I get home from work and he sees me. He gets a HUGE smile on his face and starts crawling over to grab onto my pant legs all the while saying, "Mama, Mama!"
Another important item to Dawson is his bottle. He has used his version of the word, "baba" several times in context, asking us for it. He is now able to hold it by himself without help. And you should see him go to town with it. When he sees it he often squeals and if it is anywhere near his reach, he grabs it!

Videos from October