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.

Brushing the teeth

With Dawson turning one, we had another doctor's appointment. The main reason for the trip was the shots, and they were the worst so far. The pain shocked him so much that it took his breathe away. It's not pleasant to watch your son's tongue silently throb in with the intensity of the cries that can't yet come out. But let's move on...

What wasn't quite so bad but still not that pleasant was Dawson's first experience with brushing his teeth. The doctor said it's time to get him into that habit. Here are some pictures from this first tooth brushing. As you can see, he didn't really enjoy it. Coincidentally, we haven't remembered to brush his teeth since.

Some more videos

Up the Stairs and Down the Stairs

Dawson's most favorite activity this month is climbing up and down any flight of stairs that he sees. Aunt Casey's is the first place where he accomplished the feat of going up... without anyone watching him actually do it. All of us were unpacking and I turned around for one minute and then I saw him at the top of the stairs bouncing up and down while sitting on his bottom, smiling his big toothy smile!

I showed him twice how to turn around at the top of the stairs to crawl down backwards and now he can go up and down with great ease. It is hilarious to see him "on a mission" to make his way down. He scoots around in a circle and sometimes bumps into the couch or wall all the while thinking that he is headed down. But when he finally gets to the right spot, down he goes!

The last few days, he has decided to take souvenirs on his trips down the stairs. In one hand, he will hold a block, ball, or anything else he can hold and go all the way down. Sometimes he makes it back up with his treasured item, and sometimes he doesn't.

His newest feat, however is launching things down the steps when the gate is open AND closed. I have found a baby bottle, one of my tall brown boots, and his fire truck toy, all at the bottom of the steps. I guess he hasn't yet figured out that those larger items are more difficult to retrieve. Every time he learns something new, we smile. It is such a joy to discover the world again through his eyes.

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!"

Some videos from November and December

Sweet Boy

Lately, Dawson has been showing a lot of affection. When he wakes up in the morning, he puts his arms around our necks and squeezes us tight. He also likes to lay his head down on our shoulders when he is sleepy or even trying to just show affection. It is SO sweet. Last night right before putting Dawson to bed, we were praying together as a family. Dawson was in Daddy's arms and reached out to grab Mommy and gave me a hug. Then he kissed me right on the lips. Immediately after that, he reached out for Daddy again and hugged him. Then he was right back to reaching out for a Mommy hug. It melts my heart that he is responding to the love that we are showing him. I thanked God last night that Dawson is beginning to understand what love means. What a sweet, loving boy we have!