My Little Man

It's official: In this outfit, Dawson looks like a little boy. He's growing SO fast! I can't keep up!

In other news:

I guess we played really hard today. Because Dawson was trying to nap during lunch.

But being the adorable kid he is, he was still chewing even though his eyes were closed. 

Don't worry, we put him to bed after we shot the picture.

Happenings of Late

About mid-December, Aaron finished his first semester of Year 2. This marks his halfway point of his "schooling" (His last year will be rotations ... i.e. internships). He also had a particularly hard semester. So he came home to this after his last final.

He got his favorite candy, celebratory cake, eggnog, and a few "cold ones". He also came home to a blanket fort in the living room ... that was his request ha ha. So we watched a movie and had snacks to celebrate.  

Then came Christmas. We spent it with my parents. We had a nice, warm time. 

Lisa and Darin (My brother and Sister-in-law) had all of us put our kids' hand prints on these aprons. They turned out way cute and mom and dad loved them. 

We did our hand prints in the tub. Dawson LOVED the paint, but he was pretty angry about the manhandling and the astounding lack of water in the tub!

Our tub is still orange from the paint ... but at least it's a fun memory!

Grandma and Grandpa Nethercott got Dawson a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" Laptop. Dawson loves it! He plays with it every day. I hope he'll be able to learn letters and numbers from it.

Grandma and Grandpa Isaksen gave him a ball-popping elephant. He loves that too, he likes to tilt it so the elephant blows in his face. Silly kid. 

We got him goldfish. They were just as well received as the elephant and the laptop.

Dawson loves "Dumbo" (perhaps that's why he loves the ball-popping elephant so much?). I  usually let "Dumbo" babysit Dawson so I can do my hair and make-up. It usually lasts for 5 minutes, but hey, that's 5 minutes of him not stealing my hairbrush!

The other day, it was really quiet. Suspiciously quiet, so I went to check on him and this is what I saw:

Nothing like "Dumbo" and a good book. He's getting the finest education at home ...

In my last post, I had made a nativity for Dawson. He got pretty mad at me when I took it away with the rest of the Christmas decorations. So I decided to make him more decorative blocks. I think they turned out pretty well!

And yes, that is cardboard covering the T.V.s buttons. And yes, he IS that tall ... Nothing is safe anymore. 

Navitiy

I made my own nativity scene this year! I LOVE nativity scenes. I love to arrange and rearrange them. I'm not sure why I love them so much, It may be because I grew up with so many? Or maybe because my mom let me arrange them all the time? But I think it's because I love the Christmas season and the story that the nativity tells. It's a wonderful reminder that our Savior came to this earth as a small, helpless child like all of us, lived his life and saved mankind in selfless love.

With that being said, I wanted a nativity scene just for Dawson. I colored and cut out my figures and slapped them on some blocks of wood with modge podge (have I ever mentioned how much I love modge podge?)

Dawson loves it. He loves it so much he stood up ON HIS OWN to play with it!

He doesn't do that for much else. 

My nativity scene is a win for all.

1.) It encourages Dawson to stand

2.) Dawson now has a decoration he can play with

3.) It looks SO darn cute

4.) I get to rearrange it several times a day!!

What a fun few weeks!

We've had some CRAZY fun these past few weeks!

We had a campout with the Young Women. Since I am ward camp director, this fell under my jurisdiction. Hence the air mattress inside a nice heated building ... So some girls slept outside, and some girls inside. We had a fire, so it was legitimate. 

We played some awesome team builders with them (Thanks dad!!)

Save the doll: There are 2 circles, in between the two circles is lava. Here's a rope, and save my dog over by that tree.

The girls worked together really well to save my dog.

But one was too impatient to wait for a solution ... She didn't touch the lava, I was so impressed by her 10 foot leap that I let her have it.

They still had to save her though. Even though she had thrown the dog over to safety.

The all classic: Spiderweb =)

They were glad to be done with this one.

And Sneaky Indian (BIG hit, thanks again Dad!)

One girl thought it was funny to sneak up behind other girls and yell, which gave away her position! It was too funny. We gave her gold stars for creativity.

 Dawson loves to be outside. He also loves his daddy. So when he gets both, he's a happy camper. So happy in fact, he decided to walk for us! He's still figuring it out, but we're in no rush!

Dawson's first bubble bath. He decided early on that eating the bubbles was not a good idea. 

Tonight's Stake activity was a hoedown. We had a lot of fun dressing up like cowboys!

And we can't leave out this picture ... I love my baby.

He only gets his pacifier when he's sleeping, but the day we took this picture, he got to have it all day since he was feeling so yucky. I forgot he had it with him when I bathed him ... but you know those days when mom just gives up? Yeah, that was one of those days.

October

A few weeks ago, Aaron went with the scouts to hike Blood Mountain. It's the tallest point on the Appalachian trail. Aaron loved the Georgia "Mountains". I'm glad he could go. He likes things like that. 

Dawson and I stayed home and enjoyed the beautiful weather another way. We chilled on the back porch. 

For Halloween, We wanted to dress Dawson up as a tough guy, wearing a bandanna, wife beater, and a goatee. He didn't want that. So we decided on Clark Kent/Superman. It took TONS of gel to get that little curl in the front. But SO worth it!

Oh and of course, Mario and Luigi go perfectly with Superman ...  

Proud Parents

Dawson got his follow-up flu shot a few days ago. Naturally, he did not like them. But we were able to stop the screaming with a simple red sucker. Oh the little joys in life!

We've also found what motivates Dawson to stand: Fruit snacks. He can't pull himself up to stand yet, but boy, he sure tries. He's trying to hard to couch cruise too, but he hasn't figured out how to move his chubby feet. 

He pulls out a fruit snack, hands it to me. I say "Thank you" and put it away. We repeat this until he is out of fruit snacks. We may sample a few during our play. 

Dawson LOVES the piano. He flips the pages and plays some songs. He's quite the prodigy. 

This is our version of time out.

Just kidding. Dawson LOVES being outside. And seeing that it's BEAUTIFUL Fall weather and we have a screened-in porch. I don't mind it so much either. 

Book Worm

I really don't have new pictures to post. I'm bad about taking spontaneous pictures. I did want to brag about my baby though. I'm good at that.
Our little stinker is 13 months old! He does NOT cuddle me at all, so when he does decide to cuddle; I take it. No matter what we are doing. (Which may have been used to my disadvantage because now Dawson lays his head on my shoulder when I lower him down to his crib ...)
Our bedtime routine usually includes a book. Due to Dawson's age, I've stuck to the classic big letters and flashy colors. He mostly tries to play with these books, resulting in power struggles between the two of us. But lately, I've decided to actually read books to him. Dawson rested his little head on me while I read to him "Horton Hears a Who". He stared and stared at the pictures while I read. He was so enthralled in it. We got through half the book before he tried to rip the pages out. WOW!
We also have several block books in his toy bin. He'll pull them out and flip through the pages and "read" them out loud.
I love that he loves books. It's been so fun to see! I'm so impressed with my baby boy!
Now it's time for some regular library trips.