Good afternoon,

Here is Dawson's update:

Your baby is beginning to understand a lot about how things in his world work. One example is "object permanence" – understanding that an object continues to exist even after it disappears from sight. That's why peekaboo is a favorite game. Similarly, if your baby drops a toy or his pacifier out of his crib or highchair, he may look for it, whereas in the past he cried for the object because it had gone missing.

As your baby's muscles are becoming stronger, he's apt to lunge forward onto all fours from a sitting position. He may go into a "precrawl" exercise, rocking back and forth on hands and knees with his trunk parallel to the floor. Most babies begin to crawl between 7 and 10 months. A few never crawl at all and bide their time until they're ready to walk!

Dawson is right on track. He has been attempting to learn to crawl. He's really good at pulling himself up, and taking steps on his own if Mommy or Daddy holds his hands. We are still working on balance, but he's going to be mobile in no time! David finished installing the last few pieces of baby proofing tools. Let me just say that things have gotten really high tech with that stuff!! I had to get him to show me how the toilet lock worked. :-) I can safely say that I don't think Dawson will be playing in the potty anytime soon!

Dawson is quite the babbler these days. He spouts out "Ma-Ma" more frequently. David has now become "Da-Da" instead of "A-Daddy." We still get tickled pink when he says either. David called me at work last week to tell me that Dawson said, "I love you." David was washing his bottles, and he said Dawson just said it. I told him food is the way to a man's heart, and Dawson was proud of his daddy for taking good care of him!

Everyday Dawson waits for me to get home, and it's like Christmas every time I walk through the door. I need to video tape it one day. He gets sooo excited. He starts jumping, clapping, and smiling from ear to ear. I'm trying to soak it up as much as I can. I know it's only a matter of time before he grows out of it. Right now I'm perfectly ok with being his hero at the end of the day. I love spending time with him and David.

For some, I know reading all of this may be a bit cheesy, but let me just say that we are blessed. We thought long and hard before starting our family, and we prayed for God to be at the center of everything we do. Luckily, we have been able to stick to that pretty good. I think keeping God in the center of your life, marriage, family, etc is always a work in progress. It's kind of like maintaining or losing weight! It's a battle, but it's well worth the effort. I have laughed a couple of times in the past couple of days. I've been praying hard for assistance from God, and it's just funny how he makes things happen. Yesterday I received a "prayer rug" in the mail, and today I had an employee feed me words I spoke earlier this week. The only weird thing was he was no where around when I spoke them! Given his situation I probably would not have been as understanding as he was today. He said, "Well, I look at it like this, maybe God was saving me from a wreck or something awful. That's just how I choose to look at these things." He was getting ready to take his family on vacation and had some issues that he had to address before he could leave. I mentioned the same thing to a lady I work with about following behind people who drive slow, tractors on the road, waiting on trains, etc. I just look at it as maybe God is saving me from something or maybe he's trying to teach me patience. :)

God works in mysterious ways... I have full faith in the big guy.

I just felt the need to share that with all of you. I hope all of you enjoyed the rain we got today!

Stay Safe,

Mrs. S.