Hey guys,

Here is Dawson's developmental update:

Your baby is starting to grasp what it means when someone can no longer be seen, the result of a growing understanding of what's called object permanence. An exciting demonstration of this comes the first time your baby tries to imitate a goodbye wave by twisting a wrist or flapping a hand. Not all 8-month-olds can wave bye-bye, but it's a fun new feat to anticipate. It takes a certain amount of fine-motor coordination to wave in the style of the Queen (or Mom and Dad).

Dawson hasn't yet started waving, but the object permanence is growing. We play peek-a-boo a lot these days. He's getting good at guessing where I'm going to pop out of next. I know I say this a lot, but he's such a happy baby. This week has been hard for our little man. He's got another tooth trying to come in, and this one has been the worst of them all. Bless his little heart, he hasn't been able to sleep very well UNLESS Mommy puts him in the big bed and then puts him back in his bed. I wonder if he's hammin it up on purpose??? :-) I doubt it, but I don't miss an opportunity to snuggle with my bug.

We visited Aunt Marsha yesterday afternoon. Dawson crawled for the first time at her house!!! We tried and tried to get him to crawl at Mom and Dad's last weekend, but it was a no go. He is getting more and more mobile. He doesn't have any problems pulling himself up. When he runs through our house David and I grab walls when he's coming. Unfortunately for us, Dawson's walker didn't come with brakes. What's up with that? When he gets in his little Cars walker he might as well be Steve McQueen!! If given the chance David and I shout out warnings when we know which direction he's heading. Dawson thinks its hilarious. He gets upset if there's areas his car doesn't fit or when he gets stuck on a rug. So far he's been curious about things, but not really interested in trying to get into the cabinets. They are baby proofed now, so I'm not worried. I left one of the kitchen drawers open for him to get to which has dish towels in it. He enjoys getting the towels and washcloths out of the drawer and bringing you whatever he thinks you may need at the time. He's too funny.

Dawson has started babbling. It's pretty funny because it usually always ends with a high pitched squeel. He gets excited that he can make sounds and gets carried away. He says "Ma-Ma" and "Da-Da" more often now, but never when we ask. I guess that's how kids work.

Dawson is fascinated with phones and loves when I put my cell phone on speakerphone when we call Mamaw or Grandmaw. When they answer and talk to him on the phone he smiles really big but doesn't say a word until I finish my conversation and then he will babble a bit. I suppose that's his way of saying goodbye. He's going to have them on speed dial by the time he can talk!

Today Dawson is 8 months old. It's really hard to believe it's been that long. A year ago I was pregnant. Wow. People always talk about how fast time flies with kids, but they are right. I put together a slide show of pictures of Dawson over the past 8 months. Feel free to view:

http://www.slide.com/r/U_FOXwCd6T8l2ArmyUlWa-7hmkbS5cyT?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

I hope all of you enjoy the weekend. Tomorrow I'm suprising David with a mystery date. I'm looking forward to it. This will be the 2nd date we have had in the past 8 months without Dawson. We enjoy spending time with Dawson and don't really like to leave him. I only get a limited amount of time with my baby, and I cherish every minute of it. I still believe in one on one time with David, and lately we have learned to take advantage of the time we have after Dawson goes to sleep. David is the best partner I could have ever choosen. He's such a wonderful father and helper. There aren't many men I know that would/could take care of their children all day every day and not complain. I do give him a break in the mornings and when I get home, but the majority of the days its just David and Dawson. There's only a month left before David and I go back to school, so I hope David and Dawson enjoy the time they have together. I'm thinking of taking Dawson a couple of days a week to help him get back into the swing of daycare. The benefit for me will be that I'll be able to see my little boy at lunchtime again!


Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Lori