18 Months Old

        Dawson turned 18 months old yesterday!!! He is now halfway to two! I can't believe how fast our little man is growing.  He is still my baby, yet I am seeing more independence in him everyday.  He is still the world's biggest mama's boy.  He loves to be held and kissed.  When you ask for a kiss, he comes over and gives you the sweetest little kiss.  I am starting to notice that he seems to enjoy more play independent play time.  This is good for me because I can now get things done, but it makes me sad because it's another reminder how big he is getting!

       Dawson has become a really good sleeper.  He goes to bed every night around 7:00 and generally will sleep until 6:30-7:00 the next morning.  He still takes a good nap from about 1:00-3:30 every afternoon.  I have him on a pretty set schedule which he seems to do really well with.  The boy is just like me and LOVES his sleep.  

      Dawson's favorite foods still are fruits.  I buy a ton of fresh fruit and he literally inhales it.  Blueberries are his absolute favorite.  I keep telling Ashlyn that he is going to turn into a blueberry like the girl in Willy Wonka.  She thinks that is pretty funny.  Everything else he is hit or miss with.  Some days he will like a certain food, and the next time not so much.  It's fun to watch him decide what he likes and doesn't like.  He is still a pretty good eater and will eat most of what he is offered.  

       Trucks are Dawson's favorite toy.  He has a huge basket full of trucks that he plays with all day.  He loves pushing them around the floor.  If he doesn't have a truck handy, he will even take a shoe and push it around the floor pretending its a truck.  His favorite truck is one that plays music.  He is quite attached to it and the other day insisted that it sit on his highchair tray while he ate.  He is pretty good at sharing.  When he is around Ella, he will go over and hand her toys to play with.  He isn't as good as sharing with Ashlyn, but I suspect that's because she often takes toys from him.

        Dawson is still working on talking.  He is using more words consistently now.  His new favorite word is now, "Mine!".  He usually uses it when he wants something like my Ipad.  He is really good at saying Ella's name too.  A lot of what he says we still don't quite understand, but I know it will happen very, very soon. 

      Every night before bed, I read several books to Dawson.  His favorite book is a book about trucks and a barnyard book.  The barnyard book has all sorts of different animals and the sounds they make.  He always gets a kick out of his mom making funny animal sounds!

      We couldn't not have asked for a better son.  He is such a sweet, caring, and amazing little boy.  He is so funny and has a great sense of humor.  His sister can always make him laugh.  Or I can by "eating" his feet.  He absolutely loves to smile and laugh.  I am so unbelievably lucky to be his mom. 

     I always take pictures of Dawson every month on when he turns a new "age".  Joey went crazy taking pictures yesterday and he got some great ones.  Here are some of my favorite shots.

Mommy and Dawson

I always call him my little model baby.  He is just so handsome!

Mr. Cool

Love that face

Ashlyn can usually be seen leading her little brother around.  She is a great big sister.

Dawson really looks like my brother to me.  He really looks like my brother did as a baby in this picture. 

He loves to run

He still loves going down the slide

But, he likes climbing up the ladder to the slide even better

I absolutely love this one!!! This expression reminds me so much of Joey.

Loves his car

Just relaxing

He loves playing with his sister.  Ashlyn has recently decided that this is her favorite nightgown.  She informed me today that she is planning on wearing it to bed every night until Christmas.