Happy Birthday

18 Months

Words:
Mom, Mama, Mommy
Dad, Daddy, Dah
baby
tractor
Dawson (Dawsie)
uh-oh
Shhh
Off
Mmm
Bite
drink (dink)
Mmmm
go
Hey
Ball
book (gook)
cracker (cacker)
truck (guck)
car
yay
baby
No, Nay, Nine
Yes - "Es"
Shoes
Bye bye
Choo choo
whee
peepee
poop
Hi
cow
Moo
dog (gog)
Oof (woof)
quack (cack)
nose
eyes
up
papa
phone
hot
cold
moon
something that sounds like "thank you"
Star
Car
Circle
and something that sounds like I love you

Knows many body parts: head, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, belly, feet, hands, toes. he points to them when we ask, "Where is your...?"

Climbs on everything: chairs, back of the couch, bathtub,

Walks up and down stairs while holding a hand or the wall

LOVES to read with Mommy, Daddy, and even by himself. Sits for up to twenty minutes listening to books. And he knows if it is upside down and turns it around. He will sit and jabber as he turns the pages and now points to all kinds of things on the pages as we say them. For a long time he has shaken his finger when we read "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed".

Dives onto his cow pillow at bed time.

When he wakes up happy, he loves to wrestle and play "BOOM" in his crib, our bed, or on the couch.

Loves to cuddle right when he wakes up.


Drags all of his wheeled toys out, one at a time and lines them up as if in a parade, then scoots them one by one a different direction. He still scoots with one leg underneath him when he plays.


He loves to be chased and tickled. It makes him laugh from his belly.
watches our mouths when we sing.


Sits in the refrigerator when it is open and likes to take all of the condiments out of the door.


Is learning that throwing toys results in toys being in time out. He likes to launch his big trucks and tractors down the steps. As soon as he does, Mommy or Daddy go down after it and put them up where he can see them, but out of his reach.

12 months old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY DAWSON!

Cupcake #1 at Aunt Casey's house.

Cupcake #2 with Aunt Megan at Papa and Marla's.

Opening presents with Miss Briana at Grandma Kim's.

Sitting in the wagon from Papa, Marla, and Paige.

Birthday balloons in his crib!

Seuss Birthday party cake!

Little Dawsie has just turned one. Here's a good description of his actions these days:

- Loves playing with his ball and has a big proud smile as he states, "bahl." His other two vocabulary words are "dah" and "mah."
- Enjoys putting objects into open spaces, containers or drawers and taking them back out.
- Tosses toys and household items down the stairs, chases after them then hauls them back up.
- Is responsible for objects in the basement being found in the upstairs bedroom.
- LOVES his blocks.
- Cuddles his stuffed cow pillow while going to sleep.
- Is OBSESSED with opening any type of cabinet door.
- Finds great amusement in pulling out the pans from under the stove and the tupperware from out of the cabinet.
- Loves most vegetables but hates most fruit.
- Takes great pride in draining his sippy cup.
- Goes crazy at the sound of running water. Splashes around in the bath and is not happy when taken out of the tub. He LOVES baths.
- Still takes two naps per day.
- Gives tight hugs right before bedtime.
- Kisses things he loves, such as stuffed animals, books and mommys and daddys.
- "Dances" to music by shaking his bottom.

11 Months

It is very difficult for parents to believe how fast children grow and change. In this eleventh month of Dawson's life, I can see why that sentiment is often expressed. Just 11 months ago, we were holding a tiny baby who needed us to meet every single need. Now, he is moving completely on his own and exerting his will to get into everything that he can reach. His personality is coming out and it is so fun to watch him bloom and grow.

At 11 Months Dawson...
-has tooth number three coming in -bolts through the bathroom door with his super lightning crawl saying "Bah" and heads for the bathtub
-climbs up the stairs slowly and when we turn him around, can lower himself down carefully, turning to watch his feet as he goes
-fell down the stairs once and apparently learned his lesson, he now sits and bounces at the top of the stairs until someone comes to get him
-loves to play with his blocks; stacks and bangs them, puts them in his giraffe toy, carries them all over the house while he crawls with one foot behind and the other on the floor in front of him -says "Mhmmm" when he is hungry and bangs his head against the high chair, screeching while he is waiting for his food
-wakes up time is between 5 and 5:45 -pushes his toy tractors across the floor while crawling everywhere
-talks himself to sleep
-bounces up and down any time music comes on
-is naturally happy and laughs expressively
-watches the garbage truck go down the street every week with Daddy from the window
-shakes his head "no" and "yes", sometimes at appropriate times
-eats black beans, carrots, crackers, sweet potatoes, rice, shredded chicken (sometimes), cheese, Cheerios, pasta, green beans, peas, pears, applesauce, cereal, toast, corn, potatoes
-won't eat red peppers or bananas
-loves pulling things out of any drawers that are accessible. We have made two drawers in the kitchen just for Dawson friendly things.
-is amazed by the TV, grabs at the pictures and tries to push the buttons.
-put the phone up to his ear like he was talking
-is a big hugger, especially right before bed time
-puts his hands up when we ask "How big is Dawson?" during the response "SOOO Big!"

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.

9 months old

At nine months of age, our little boy...
- Laughs at his own burps, convincing mom this trait is a part of a man's DNA
- Is able to to maneuver back down from a standing position to a seated position with growing ease
- Tests any stationary or somewhat stationary object to see if he can pull himself up with it. When he does pull into a standing position, he gets a big smile on his face and looks around to show off for whoever is watching.
- Loves cheerios
- Can 'cruise' along the furniture
- Has a deep belly laugh
- Loves looking out the living room window
- Clings tightly to our necks when getting him out of the crib in the morning. This is, by far, daddy's favorite part of the day.
- Still loves "Snuggle Puppy"
- Army crawls across the floor with surprising speed. He's just now begun doing the regular crawl.
- Is obsessed with the end-table drawer underneath the TV
- Toes peek out over the edge of his car seat
- Wiggles on the changing table, making changing his diapers an almost impossible task
- Is wearing 12 - 18 month sized clothes
- Eats 3 meals per day
- Is in the 90th percentile of height and 50th of weight
- Has 2 little teeth and takes 2 long naps each day
- Has begun research for his doctoral dissertation... okay, maybe next month.

8 Months Old!

At 8 months, our little Horton:

- Listens attentively to his favorite books. He often looks back and smiles during Snuggle Puppy. It is a singing book. :)

- Can pull himself up to a standing position

- Has a determined way of getting to whatever object grabs his attention. Lots of army crawling around our house!

- Has a happy sound that sounds an awful lot like a growl

- Can scoot all across the living room and kitchen floors

- Loves being tickled under the ribs

- Enjoys hanging with daddy and friends while they life weights in the garage

- Can't actually crawl, but gets up on hands and knees to rock back and forth

- Hugs around the neck and gives open-mouthed kisses

-Loves to see his Aunt Casey and cousins Tricia, Sydney and Andy when he stays with them while Mommy and Daddy work two days of the week.