Lover of the Vacuum

Read books, sing, play ball, make noise, chase the dog.... yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are all fun, but my absolute favorite thing right now is the vacuum cleaner. Some are calling it a mild obsession, and my mother says that I am truly my father's child.

So, the day begins with this....

Look! Let's get out the vacuum cleaner! It's right here - in this closet.

If I could reach the door handle, believe me, I'd do it myself. Come onnnnn!!!

I mean RIGHT NOW!!!

Don't make me stand here and cry at this door like I did earlier. You know I will!

Ok...this is good. Thank you. Now you need to turn it on. Pleeeeeaasssse.

Now, I'll sit here and you vacuum around me.

Isn't this fun??!!

20 more rounds of this and then it will be bedtime. And...so it goes.....a day in the life of Dawson.

Look Who's One!

I have had a wonderful first birthday! On my big day I went to music class and lunch with my girlfriends - Lillianna and Mary Bibb. After that Mommy and I ran some errands and then met Daddy and Gigi for dinner at Chuck E. Cheese. All of the rides and games had lots of fun buttons to push. That was my favorite part.

cruising with Chuck E.

Let's see how fast this baby can go!

I have gotten many wonderful birthday presents.

Here are just a few:

Step 'n Play piano

cell phone

lots of books

and lots of toys

Communicating

I have been learning to use sign language,

and there is rarely any doubt about what I am trying to say.

"Where is it?"

"eat"

Over the past two weeks, the weather has been beautiful, and I have been begging to go outside - many times a day. I will grab your finger and pull you towards the door. Then, I pick up Lizzy's leash and hand it to you. If you don't agree to go out right then, I will begin to fuss and bang on the door. This game was fun at first, but now the grown ups will sometimes get a little frustrated with me. For some reason it's not always convenient for them to go outside. hmph.

Birthday Cake

I went to Nashville this past weekend and got a jump start to celebrating my first birthday which will be on the 13th. We had lots of presents and CUPCAKES!

Hmmm....this looks rather interesting.

Ok. So far so good. Am I doing this right?

Let's see how much I can get in my mouth at once.

Uh-oh.....I'm so sorry. I forgot to ask if you would like any.

Yeah!!! This is wonderful! I love being one!

You've got to be kidding me! No more??

Sooooo Big!

I am an extremely happy boy - almost all the time.

"Life is good!"

showing off my new shoes

When someone asks me how big I am,

I raise both of my arms as high as I can, and they say "soooooo big!"

I am very attached to my blankey these days. It is always close by.

I experienced my first real snow in Nashville a couple weeks ago. It snowed pretty hard all day long. It didn't stick to the pavement, so we were able to get out and enjoy it. The snow was beautiful on the houses and trees. However, I slowly realized that it really wasn't much different from rain and was ready to get back inside where it was warm.

So Very Busy

Well, hello. It's been awhile since I wrote. The reason is because I am extremely busy these days. I took my first step 3 weeks ago, but it was nothing to write home about. I was very unbalanced and couldn't take the 2nd step before falling forward into whatever or whomever was in front of me. Since then, I've been walking a little more each day. Today, I walked halfway across the room - all by myself! I've finally got this walking thing down. Next step, RUNNING!

This is a picture of me right before bedtime. I wanted to help my mom clean the floor instead of going to bed. It didn't help my plan in staying up longer, but she'll be sad in a few years when I'm no longer interested in this. I like to play with everything that is not mine. I've just recently hit the stage where I'm discovering new objects every day. Once I find something new, I want to take it everywhere I go. Some of my most recent "treasures" have been: a brush, a dog leash, a toothbrush, tupperware, and anything with a cap that I can open with my newfound teeth!

I've learned to weasel my way into the strangest places in order to get a missing toy.

In this picture, I'm offering to take the dog on a walk and showing off my new teeth.

One of my favorite things to do now is to cover people with big, wet, slobbery kisses. I put my hands on both sides of their face, pull them close, and kiss them all over. And, let me just tell you........they love every minute of it! I'm such a charmer!

I now have 5 teeth, and my 4th top tooth is coming in as we speak.

My Best Friend

Lizzy and I are very best friends. We do everything together!

We snuggle.

We play peek-a-boo. She hides under the bed and hopes I can't find her.

But, I've gotten older and smarter! Peek-a-boo!

We like to play with the same toys.

We play tug-of-war.

Sometimes we even fight over the same toy, but we're learning to share.

We enjoy new adventures together every day!

A Whole New World

"A whole new world.... With new horizons to pursue. I'll chase them anywhere. There's time to spare. Let me share this whole new world with you!"

I am 10 months old today! Am I growing fast, or what? I can walk by holding onto my toys, the furniture, and the walls. And, wow! What a big world it is out there! There are all kinds of new things to discover every day. I stay very busy!

Everytime I see a door, I have to open it.

I can now control the dvd player and the cable box. Watch out!

I'm learning what my "tippy toes" are for.

I discovered the wine rack, and you can probably guess what my mom had to say about that.

The bottles make really cool clanking noises when I bang them together.

Nope. You can't stop me. I'll just reach right around this basket...thank you very much.

The cd player is much more interesting than my toys.

Don't you remember? I'm into the grownup toys now.

Walking With My Toys

I am acting more and more like a big boy every day!

In the beginning, I had a hard time keeping up with the toys. Now, I can keep up with them and direct them much better. If you want to come play, I'll push you in my wagon! :)

Lately, my blankey has been going everywhere I go. I haven't quite figured out how to carry it and push my toys at the same time. Although, if it gets in the way like this again, I'll master it quicker than you think. Nothing will slow me down now!