A heart-warming weekend

The older Dawson gets, the more expressive and interactive he's becoming. It's really quite sweet and entertaining. Here are a few examples:

If we're laying down, on the bed or the couch, he crawls on top of us for a hug then turns around and squirms up next to our body for some snuggling. When Dawson wiggles up to us 'rear end first,' he's wanting to snuggle. I was reading on the couch this afternoon when he climbed up over the end - as he's prone to do with the assistance of a wooden box - then snuggled up next to me. Sometimes he'll just throw his body on top of ours to give a bear-hug.

Snuggling and hugging aren't his only ways of showing affection, he also enjoys giving us love pats. He'll smile and laugh while patting me on the shoulder or the face.

This morning he learned how to work the garage door opener. He saw the button, knew what it was for then watched in awe as his action made the garage door go up and down.

While pumping gas last night, I knocked on his window to smile at him while he was in the car seat. When he turned to his left at the noise of my knocking and saw 'daddie' (a word he'll repeat even when I'm in the other room) he burst out into one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen and started laughing and waving. Knocking on his window was a simple act but the exuberance of his response melted my heart in a brand new way.

Over the past few weeks, he's been standing fully upright from a seated or kneeling position. He would only do it once in awhile, though. But over the weekend, he started doing it more often and more quickly, while holding two fairly large toys. This morning, as I was sitting on the couch reading, Dawson repeatedly stood up, sat down, then stood up again. My positive reinforcement was prompting him to keep showing off.

He's also finally began to take 2 or 3 little steps. Nothing major but we know the big promenade isn't too far off. Well, as I was still sitting on the couch reading this morning, out of the corner of my eye I saw Dawson moving rather quickly. Nothing new but this time he was up higher than usual. I quickly turned to see Dawson taking full steps for the longest distance yet, at least 7 or 8 full steps - the entire length of the couch. When he finally stopped and threw himself down on a pillow, I cheered like crazy. Of course, this excited Dawson and we both laughed for about 5 full minutes, then spent some time giggling, wrestling, tickling and playing "boom" (where I toss him onto the couch). It was a really, really exciting moment. I was so proud to see him move so much and glad I could experience such a big milestone.

It was repeated on slighty smaller but more dramtic scale later that evening. Our Parents as Teachers coach was over at our house and trying to entice Dawson to stand for a toy. Dawson just won't do stuff like that when we prompt him, he does it on his own volition. But when he was already standing, Erin held out a toy for him. In classic baby-walking style, he gingerly reached out as far as he could but with the toy being just beyond his fingertips he began taking small steps toward Erin. He walked for about 5 steps before sitting down. All three of us were quite excited, so to join in our enthusiasm Dawson stood back up and began clapping. The boy was enjoying the attention.