Happy Half-Birthday, Dawson!

Today Dawson is 1 1/2! I can't believe he could possibly be this old, but saying he's only 18 months makes him sound younger than saying he's one and a half! :) I plan to have the full 18 Month Update posted on Friday because his 18 month check-up is on Friday, so after that I will have all the stats!
It has been about two weeks since I last updated our blog, and since then we have been spending as much time outside enjoying this unseasonably warm weather as possible. It's still been getting in the seventies (even upper seventies sometimes) almost every day! Today is one of the first true cold days, so I have a feeling we may not be spending as much time outside from now on.
We've been spending our time outside playing on the play set in our backyard and going to a local park. Dublin Park has an awesome kids area called Kid's Kingdom that has a ton of slides, swings, and things for kids to climb on and through, so it is the perfect place for Dawson who LOVES to climb now more than ever. He has been getting in a little trouble recently because he can climb on ANYTHING! He can quickly climb on top of the kitchen table, coffee table, or our bed to name a few. He loves doing this, and it makes me so nervous. Hopefully soon he will learn that it is against the rules.
Unfortunately, I've been having to get on to him for climbing so he's been hearing the word "no" a lot more, and has started telling us "no." It was funny at first, but the humor it in is wearing off. For example, John may say, "Dawson let's go get changed" to which Dawson shakes his head in an exaggerated manner and replies "NO." Or I may tell Dawson that it is naptime, and he will tell me no. I did teach him "yes" which he pronounces "yeash." As of now, though he rarely says yes unless you specifically ask him to say it.
Even though Dawson is going through a phase of pushing the rules by trying to climb on everything, he continues to be SO much fun! John and I are loving every minute of playing with Dawson. I plan to include some recent Dawson "funnies" and what else he's up to at this age in the next update with his 18 month info.
Recently, John has started to get busier with work as it is beginning the holiday shopping season. Someone has to ship those boxes to the store! :) But he managed to fit in a golf game yesterday, and has continued to fit in time to update his fantasy football team with the Fantasy League he is in with our Sunday School class.
I have stayed busy taking care of Dawson, John, and the house. Also, recently I had a crafting night at my house for some friends where we all brought our own crafts (mine was Dawson's scrapbook) to work on, chat, and hang out. We had a great time!
Here are some recent photos that are only of Dawson! Enjoy...

Above: Dawson showing his graham cracker

to Bentley.
Above: Dawson vacuuming before church.
He LOVES his vacuum.

Above: Walking with purpose!

Above: Dawson about to go down the slide

at Kid's Kingdom.

Above: Dawson reaching for me before

going down the slide. I was standing at the

bottom with my arms out, so he reached out

to me.

Above: Up in the castle at Kid's Kingdom.

Above: Dawson in the pumpkin at Kid's Kingdom.

Above: Dawson cannot stand a mess. At

Kid's Kingdom the ground was covered in mulch,

and he kept squatting down to dust the mulch

off of all of the wooden pieces as you can

see him doing in this picture.

Dawson loves to do this sort of thing and to

clean....John says he gets it from me! haha

Above: Dawson sitting on the swinging bridge

at Kid's Kingdom.

Above: Dawson decided to climb on the one thing

at the park that wasn't made for climbing!

Above: My big boy!

Above: I told Dawson it was time to go, and I think he was worn

out because he walked to the gate of Kid's Kingdom ready to leave.

(this never happens)

Above: Dawson gave Bentley a treat. I

asked him if he loved her, and he leaned

down to give her a snuggle while she was

eating her treat!

Above: This is the not so innocent look.

Above: Dawson half-way out of his pjs and riding his horse.

He has started making it rock so big that he has flipped it over

a few times. You can see how big he is rocking it here.

(He rocked it over forward and fell off about 1 minute after

this picture, but he got right back on the horse!)

Above: I asked Dawson if the horse could use his pacifier, and

my smart boy tried putting it in his mouth.

(Look at all the toys he had already gotten out, and he had only been

up for about 30 minutes.)

Above: Trying to share pacie with horse.

Above: Dawson successfully got the pacie

in his horse's mouth. Silly boy!

Above: Dawson playing in our backyard yesterday.

(Yes, it was warm enough for short sleeves!)

Above: Dawson running in the backyard like

a big kid. He has a dog toy wanting Bentley to

chase him.

Above: Dawson knows pine cones are prickly

and that they hurt, because he points to them

and furrows up his face. For some reason, he

still cannot resist picking them up to bring them

to me.

Above: Dawson touched the ground and got

some dirt on his hands. Then he spent about 1

minute squatting like this trying to get 3 small flecks

of dirt off his hand, before running to me to show me

his hand so I could dust if off. He does not like

dirt!

Above: Mowing our yard.

Above: Dawson can now climb in his small

swing on his own. First he climbs in like this, and

then he turns around to swing.

Above: Sometimes he just sits in it for

half a second to relax! :)

Above: Being silly relaxing in his swing.

Above: Happily demonstrating the wrong way to swing.