A Visit to Tennessee

On Thursday we left to visit family in Tennessee for several days.  It was our longest visit in quiet a while (leaving Thursday and not coming back until Monday), and we had a great time!  Dawson got to see his Nana, Grandad, Lolly, Pop, Great Mamaw, Aunt Em, Uncle Logan, and Cousin Drew.  Not only did Dawson get spoiled on this trip, but John and I did too!  John's parents offered to get up with Dawson three of the mornings we were there so that John and I could get some extra rest which was wonderful!  John and I also managed to sneak in a date while we had grandparents wanting keep Dawson.  We took the opportunity and went to Sullivan's (the location of our engagement party) for dinner.

Dawson loved calling his grandparents by name on this visit which was so sweet!  The sweetest thing was one evening when John's family came to my parents house for dinner.  Pop was holding Dawson, and when Nana and Grandad came in the house, Dawson started pointed to Pop over and over saying, "Pop!  Pop!  Pop!" and looking around to make sure everyone knew who his Pop was.  So sweet!  We also got to visit my Mamaw (Dawson's Great Grandmother) while we were there, and she loved watching Dawson dance. A few other things Dawson loved on this trip were the swing his Nana and Grandad hung from a tree in their yard, running and playing in Lolly and Pop's backyard, the desk Lolly gave him (which we brought home and is now in our kitchen), being held by his Pop and Grandad (he always wanted them to pick him up), watching/"helping" Cousin Drew play guitar, walking around in Lolly's shoes, having his Nana give him baths at bedtime, the toddler bed his Nana and Grandad set up in his room upstairs since he can now climb out of his crib, realizing he could open Lolly's pantry and get dog treats for Bentley all by himself, but most of all he loved all of the attention and love! 

On Sunday we got together with my cousin Rachel, her husband, Eric, and their two kids, Ashton and Corbin.  Corbin is two months older than Dawson and they seemed to have fun playing beside each other and interacting a few times.  They took a brief ride on Corbin's Power Wheels (that I unfortunately didn't get a picture of) and both LOVED Corbin's dog.  Now when I ask Dawson if he had fun playing with Corbin, his answer is, "doggie?"  It was fun watching Corbin and Dawson play, and visiting with family we don't see very frequently.

We had a wonderful visit to Tennessee and even got to see some more snow while we were there.  On Monday we traveled back home to Alabama, and we're getting back in the groove of being at home again. 

Since we've been home the weather has been yucky, rainy, and cool, but Dawson doesn't seem to mind because he has had two friends here to play.  For the next several weeks I am watching a friend's kids who are two and three.  I think it is going to be great for Dawson to be around other children this much, and he seems to be enjoying it so far.  They are all really sweet and great kids, and Dawson LOVES having his friends here.

That wraps it up for now, enjoy the pictures below...

The other day Dawson wanted to put on 

his boots and go outside.  Looks like

he forgot his pants.  :) 

Dawson and his Great Mamaw.

I love this picture. 

Dawson playing outside when the weather

was nice before we went to Tennessee. 

Dawson LOVES to slide!

and swing!

and be silly in the swing!

He sat down in the backyard and just

started petting Bentley and talking to

her.  Brother and sister...So sweet!

More slide!

Dawson and Corbin.  It was hard

to get a picture of these two...

they are much too busy!

Ashton, Corbin, and Dawson all being silly

for the picture.

Dawson loved "playing" piano with his Nana.

Dawson playing with Cousin Drew's

binoculars.

Dawson in the toddler bed in his room

at Nana and Grandad's house.  He was

so happy with his bed and he had no issues

staying in it.

Dawson and his friends that will be playing with

us for the next few weeks.I thought it looked funny with

their carseats lined up from door to door in the

backseat of our Jeep.  The love it.  I looked back

one time and Dawson and Norah were holding hands. 

Dawson loves to hold hands right now, but how sweet is that?!

21 Month Update

On Valentine's Day Dawson turned 21 months old! He weighs 28.5 pounds. His sweet smile has 12 teeth fully in, plus 1 poking through the gum, and 2 more that are visable under his gums. While he didn't have to go to the doctor for a check up at 21 months, he did have to see a nurse at the doctor to get his Hib Vaccine. He was brave about getting the shot, but a few hours after getting it he kept pointing to his leg and saying, "owie! owie! owwww! owie!" when he would walk. Poor little guy!! :( Fortunately, this went away by the next morning. He still remembers the shot though. If you ask him to point to his "owie," he points to the exact location on his leg where he got his shot!

21 months is a really fun age! Dawson has a sense of humor and does silly things just to be funny. At this age he continues to love to read! He also loves trains, trucks, and dinos (which he calls "ninos")--such a boy! He is loving the warm weather we have had because we spend hours outside--I think he would live out there! He loves to swing, slide, ride his powerwheels (which is is no longer afraid of) in the cul-de-sac, and most of all RUN!

With all of the time we have spent outside recently Dawson discovered the tiny 3inch tall gnome we have in our landscape. Gnome has become his newest and current favorite word. When we are outside he waves, blows kises, and points to the gnome constantly. He talks about it all the time! He is so funny!

His other current favorite and second most commonly used word is "stuck." Everything is "stuck!" When he is buckled in his stroller, carseat, or booster seat, he tells us that he is "stuck!!" :)

At 21 months Dawson has become really close to Daddy again. He cannot wait to wake John up each day and talks about him constantly when John is sleeping or working. He will say, "Daddy, come back, come back! Daddy!!" and snap his fingers. I'm pretty sure if John's supervisors could see how adorable this is, John would get to come home! Haha! Sometimes when Dawson gets to missing Daddy really badly, he will go around the house pointing to pictures of Daddy. The other morning John was in bed and Dawson was missing him, so he got the picture off our end table, laid it on the floor, and kissed John's picture...is that not the sweetest thing?! I promise, I had nothing to do with it...he did it on his own! He is such a sweet, loving boy!

At 21 months Dawson LOVES for me to quiz him on everything! We quiz on animal noises, where body parts, clothing items, etc. are and he loves it! He will clap for himself after I tell him he is correct! He also has started learning his shapes and names of shapes.

Dawson continues to have an obsession with the vacuum cleaner, and we HAVE to vacuum our floors at least once a day (usually more) so he can watch and/or vacuum along side us! HE will cry for us to use the "mom-mom" (vacuum).

The only difficult parts of 21 months are his eating and sleeping habits. HE has suddenly become a picky eater and is not fond of veggies. I sneak them in his food, though. I use my own sneaky methods and recipies from Jessica Seinfield's Deceptively Delicious Cookbook to get him his veggies whether he knows it or not! I have also been making carrot and celery juice which he will drink some of (I think the bright color tricks him)! :) For a couple of weeks he was getting up at 5:15 EVERY MORNING! That was rough. Now he has pushed it back to 6-6:30 again whic his MUCH, much, much more manageable!

Overall he is a happy, wonderfully sweet, and rowdy 21 month old! With his birthday just 3 months away, I have started planning the party!! It will be at our house on his birthday (5/14)!

Other Zorio Family Happenings

On Saturday we had our friends Fred and Andrea over for lunch while they were in town from Miami/California/Texas. It was great to see them, and we hope to do it again more frequently, as they will be moving to Knoxville this Spring.

John and I recently had a great time attending our Sunday School's 2nd Annual Valentine's Dinner on Saturday 2/19. We had it at Cantino Laredo at Bridge Street again this year, and it was very nice!! We always get dressed up. It is a mixture of formal gowns (for those of us that have formal dresses and want an excuse to wear them) and cocktail dresses--usually about half and half. Last year I wore a cocktail dress, and this year since I had a purple (kind of a Valentine's color) formal gown from my best friend, Lauren's, wedding in August, I decided to go FORMAL! We had a great time. We had some yummy food, got to have dinner with all of our friends, and then played some great games! John and I won the newlywed game this year!! I think one of the only questions we got incorrect was when I was asked what celebrity my husband looked the most like. What a difficult question! John must have thought so too, because he wrote down that he thought I would say he looked the most like LeBron James! Haha! I think he knew that we would never come up with the same answer and decided to be funny. We had such a fun night! Not to worry though, while we were at the Valentine's Party, Dawson got to play with ALL of his friends since we all did childcare together. I was surprised when we got there and, 1. Dawson was not crying, and 2. he wanted to show us the toys and what he had been doing instead of running to us to be picked up like normal!

That wraps it up for now. Enjoy the pictures below!

Above: Dawson at 21 months. I had to get a shot with

the pacificer because he has become SO attached to it.

(Like in this picture) it will be the middle of the day, and

he will go find it. He will smile like this and just look at me

when he has it during the day because he knows it's for bedtime

and naptime only! The pacificer will be gone soon enough!

Above: Dawson loves to lay behind something and tell you

he is "hiding." That's exactly what he's doing here.

Above: Dawson's friend Norah (2years) got to come over
and play for a few hours last week, and Dawson LOVED playing
with her. This is them when they were coloring.

Above: Dawson got to move up to the next nursery/Sunday
School class at church, and his class now does a craft!
His beautiful coloring and sticker artwork on the Bible
verse above, is now on our fridge!

Above: I was able to snap a quick picture when
Dawosn was giving Daddy's picture a kiss because
he missed him. Isn't this the sweetest thing?!

Above: Dawson's newest trick is wearing our shoes!
He likes to wear mine, but LOVES John's shoes.
He is so proud of himself when he walks in them.

Above: The group shot at our Valentine's Day Party!

Early Works Museum, Kid's Kingdom, and A Valentine's Day Party

We have had a very, very fun past couple of weeks! The weekend of January 29th, we went to the Early Works Museum in downtown Huntsville, and had an AWESOME time! Dawson loved the entire museum, but his favorite area was called Biscuit's Backyard which was just for kids his age. It is themed around a dog named Biscuit. It was adorable...there was a play store, post office, tree house, barn, garden, house with front porch, and much more! There was also an area with running water, plastic fish, and nets where children could catch the fish. When we got there Dawson just ran from thing to thing; he was so excited! After spending over an hour in Biscuit's Backyard we decided to see the rest of the museum, and Dawson loved it as well. There was a kids construction area that had giant tinker toys. John built a fort to put Dawson in, and Dawson thought it was hilarious! Dawson was even interested in the educational areas for older kids. I had packed a lunch for our family because the museum has an indoor picnic area. Dawson had fun picnicking inside, and after lunch he was ready to explore more of the museum. I thought we would have to leave to come home around noon since he usually naps at 12, but he was having so much fun he didn't even realize he was tired. We stayed for several hours, and then we came home where he took a great nap! We will definitely be going back to Early Works in the future since we ALL had a good time. I love taking Dawson to new and different places like this because it's so fun to watch how excited he gets! I tried to take a lot of pictures, but he was constantly on the move. I have included some below, though.

The next day, Sunday, was a beautiful day. It was sunny and it was around 70-72 degrees outside! So after church and Dawson's nap, we took him to Kid's Kingdom (the outdoor playground at Dublin Park) to play. John had never gotten to go before since we usually go when John is working, and he loved getting to see Dawson be a "big kid" and run, play, and slide on the playground.

This past weekend we were invited to a friends Super Bowl party. We took homemade pretzels (like you can get from Auntie Ann's in the mall) which was my newest experiment with bread making! The Waterbury's who hosted the party had TONS of yummy snacks and food to munch on during the game. Dawson had a great time at the party too! He got to play with his friends Hayden, Ethan, Austin, and Connor during the game.

We have had a couple of play dates recently with one or two other children at a time, but I decided that Dawson needed to have a Valentine's Day Party and invite all of his friends! So we did. It was today. His friends Jude (2), Ethan (2), Austin (2), Hayden (2), and Matthew (20 months) were all able to come! All 6 boys did great playing together with only a couple of tears here and there. I am always impressed at how well this group does together. We played in the playroom for a while and then we had Valentine's snacks. We had sugar cookies, cupcakes, grapes, and gold fish crackers. The kids loved the snacks. After finishing off all the sugar they "exchanged" Valentine's. It was cute, but after a couple of minutes they lost interest! :) We were very thankful to all of our friends for coming, despite the ice and snow that we got last night that is still around. A couple of people were not able to make it because of the roads, so we hope to get together with them for a play date soon! I love watching Dawson interact with his friends, and I took plenty of photos!

Speaking of the weather, last night we got a little over two inches of snow causing the roads to be covered with ice. When John left work to come home about 2:30 this morning his normal 20 minute drive took him almost an hour due to the ice since they don't treat the roads for winter weather here. Thankfully he made it home safely!! It has been a beautiful, sunny day and so now the ice has melted off the roads. We are very ready for warmer weather!

The only other "new" thing going on with us is that I have been learning to sew! Yes, I am 25, and I have never used a sewing machine. I never took home ec. in high school because I never thought I would want/like/care/need to know how to sew. A while back I used my birthday money from the Zorio's (thanks!) to get a basic Singer sewing machine on Black Friday because I had been wanting to learn how to sew little things for Dawson and the house for a while. As much as I wanted to, I didn't allow myself to take it out of the box until after I finished working because I knew I would want to get started sewing rather than work. Two weeks ago, I figured it was the perfect time. In the past two weeks I have taught myself to use the sewing machine, and it's so much fun! I decided I would start by making a basic apron for myself. I enjoyed it, and it went so well that I decided to make a different apron for John's Mom's birthday (yesterday). I am pretty excited with my new found hobby, and I have a few things on my list that I want to make. I honestly never thought I would enjoy sewing, but it's fun making things for myself, others, and the house!

That wraps it up for the Zorio Family right now, but be sure to check back soon because Dawson will be 21 months on Monday/Valentine's Day and I will post an update!

For now, enjoy the pictures below, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Above: All of the mom's at the party decided it would be easiest for

the kids to eat on the kitchen floor (trust me, I didn't force my

guests to eat on the floor-haha!). I thought it was so cute how

they all just sat down with their plates. This is Dawson

and his friend Matthew eating treats!

Above: Look how big all these boys look having snacks on

the floor. All of the kids are pictured here except Hayden.

Above: Dawson and Hayden playing with the Weebles
Tree House.

Above: I was trying to take a picture of all the

kids playing, but Dawson jumped in front of the

camera and made this face. You can barely

see his new tooth (his top right canine) poking

through the gumso I decided to share this picture anyway.

Above: Dawson and Ethan playing trains.

Above: Dawson and Jude talking about the trains.

Above: Dawson and Jude with the trains.

Above: A few of the cupcakes.

Above: Some of the cookies and cupcakes I made for

the Valentine's Party.

Above: A few more sugar cookies I made for the party.

Above: The Valentine's banner.

(Sorry, the lighting was not good. I think it was too bright.)

Above: The snacks and some of the decorations for the party.

Plus, you can see some of the snow out the window in our

backyard.

Above: The newest addition to our home...

these doorknob covers that prevent Dawson from

opening doors. We put the on the doorknob inside

his room to keep him from roaming the house at night

and the door to the garage because he loves to go out

there (weird). This was taken right after I put them on

the doors, and, as you can see, he's not crazy about them!

Above: This is the first apron I made. I love the fabric,

and I have been wearing it when I cook a lot!

Above: I decided to add three buttons on the top waist band

at each side to go with the circles.

Above: This is the apron I made for John's

Mom's birthday.

Above: Dawson and I painted some Valentine's

crafts.

Above: Dawson sliding at the park!

Above: Dawson running through the castle

at Kid's Kingdom!

Above: A quick picture of Dawson and Mommy

before leaving Early Works. He was exhausted!

Above: John building a giant tinker toy fort

around Dawson.

Above: More tinker toy construction.

Above: Dawson checking out the education area

of the museum for older children.

Above: There was a vacuum at Early Works

so Dawson was in heaven!

Above: Dawson and Daddy playing post office

at Early Works.

Above: Dawson and Daddy climbing through

the tree house at Early Works.

Above: Trying to catch fish at Early Works.

Above: Then Daddy put on a puppet show for

Dawson at Early Works. (I'm sure John will

love this photo.)

Above: Dawson had to pick up everything

at Early Works and show us and try it out!

He was so excited with EVERYTHING!

Above: Dawson picking potatoes and gardening

at Early Works. He will be ready to help me in the

garden this spring and summer!

Above: Most of the pictures from Early Works

came out like this because he wouldn't stop moving...

too much to see...too much to do... busy boy!