Good Afternoon, all!

Dawson's developmental update:

At this point you're still your toddler's favorite playmate. But as he gets better at expressing himself through words and gestures, he'll enjoy being around other children. If you take him on playdates or to the park, you may notice that he plays near other children but not really with them. Experts call this "parallel play," and it's perfectly normal for a 13-month-old who still thinks the world revolves around him.


Happy New Year!

We had a good Christmas and New Year, and I hope you did as well. I thought our Christmas tree would become a casualty during the holiday season, but it survived! Dawson would touch it, and play with the ornaments a little, but he never tried to tackle it!

I also thought that Dawson would really get into ripping his presents open, but just like his birthday cake, he did not. I would tear them open a little and get him to help me open them. In the midst of present opening, if we tore back the wrapping paper and he saw a brown box he just stopped all together. He completely lost interest! If he opened it and saw a toy, he would reach his hand in to touch it, and that was it. Kids are so funny. Maybe next year he will get the idea. His little face completely lit up when he opened his legos and when I brought out his riding truck. He loves them both! I can't say that he may be an architect just yet, because when I build windows out of legos (that is the extent of my lego abilities) he LOVES to demolish them after we play peek-a-boo.

Recently we have been having some issues with Dawson and other kids. I'm sure all children go through these things, but it's just very interesting to me to see how children play and interact. One of his cousins is very rough and makes Dawson cry almost everytime we see him, and the other one is extremely shy and doesn't want Dawson to touch him. This really makes things interesting, because Dawson wants to play with other kids. He has started throwing all of his toys since he received a basketball goal for his birthday. I am trying to explain to him that all toys are not fit to be thrown, but we aren't really making progress just yet.

It's funny to watch him play with his trucks and cars because now he makes sound effects. He will growl and say "vrooooom vrrooooom" and away his little car goes. He really enjoys riding on riding lawn mowers and 4-wheelers. I think he would stay on one all day if he could.

As for me, I'm thankful to spend time with my boys. And not really looking forward to the grind of school starting next week. I am going to be starting on my thesis, so please pray for me! I need all the help I can get, especially with the professor who is going to be reading and monitoring it!

I am back on track with my getting healthy plan. I kind of hit a plateau for a while, but I'm back! I have to have some tests ran next week, and I'm going to pray for a good outcome.

I hope all of you have a prosperous and safe new year!

Love,

Lori