On the Road Again...

For the past week and a half we have had a great time visiting with family and friends! Last Thursday Dawson's Grandad (John's Dad) came down to visit, and we had a lot of fun. We grilled out for lunch and spent some time outside since the weather was in the 70s! Dawson had a great time playing with his Grandad during the visit. We also had dinner at a tasty German restaurant here in Huntsville, Ol Heidleburg, and watched some basketball.
On Friday Dawson, Bentley, and I rode back to Maryville with John's Dad to stay the weekend while John was working. (Not to sound like I had all the fun while John worked though...he did manage to sneak in 18 holes of golf with his friend Steven!)
Since Dawson and I were in Maryville for the weekend we got to visit my parents and brother (Dawson's Lolly, Pop, and Uncle Logan), and he got to see his Nana (John's mom), Cousin Drew, and Great Mamaw (my grandmother). Also, while I was there I found Dawson Easter suit which I am SO excited about; his seersucker suit proves that there are cute boy clothes out there! :) I also picked out Dawson's first birthday party invitations while I was in town. Dawson, of course, had fun with all the attention he was getting during his visit.
Monday morning John came to Tennessee to get us and we got back in the car and headed Northeast to visit our friends in Asheville, North Carolina. We stayed with Josh and Cassandra for four nights and had a great time. Cassandra is expecting a baby in July and so we talked baby and played with Dawson the whole week. We also went to a really cool park, went shopping for a few baby items for Baby White, watched a movie, and ate at a couple of cool restaurants! The guys had fun going over to Harrah's Casino (just 40 minutes away) one evening, with no winnings to report...although they did get a free t-shirt. :) The guys also played Tiger Woods Golf on the Wii. Overall, we had a great visit with our friends and can't wait to see them again...and we're excited for their baby's arrival!
Friday morning we loaded the car again and began our long day of driving back to Huntsville with a short stop in Maryville to pick up Bentley who was staying with her Lolly and Pop! The drive was long, but Dawson did really well until the last hour; overall, he's a great traveler! Now we're glad to be back home, but we had a great time seeing family and friends over the past week, and we got some great pictures too!
In other Dawson news...We have been giving Dawson a lot more big kid/adult food (aka not baby food) and he LOVES it. At the White's, Cassandra made big waffles for breakfast one morning, and Dawson ate half of a waffle and loved it! He's also enjoying foods he can feed himself. Both bottom middle teeth are all the way through his gums now and can usually be seen when he smiles! So far, I don't see anymore teeth trying to cut through the gums. Dawson loves to walk behind push toys and cruise the furniture and now he can do it while only holding on with one hand. He even stands still now and lets go for a few seconds, but he hasn't taken that first official step not holding on to anything, although from the way he loves to move we're certain that it's not too far away! This coming week we are planning a little Easter Party/Play Date for Dawson's friends at our house on Thursday afternoon. Wednesday we will have owned our house for 2 years...it's gone by fast! Then Friday is Bentley's 3rd Birthday, and I plan to bake her this doggie birthday cake from a recipe I found recently. Also, sometime this week we will color our Easter eggs and take Dawson to have his picture made with our friends bunny! Otherwise, we plan to relax and enjoy being home after being gone for 7 days.
The pictures below are slightly out of order, but enjoy!

Our family at the park in Asheville, North Carolina.
Dawson's first time on a tire swing.

Dawson eating his sweet potatoes

at the Mediterranean Restaurant.

Dawson and I visiting his Great Mamaw in Tennessee.

Dawson and Grandad.

Dawson pulling up on Cousin Drew.

Dawson in the rocking chair reading a book.

This was a rocking chair my Mamaw got for

me when I was little, and I loved to sit in it.

Looks like Dawson's enjoying it too!

Crawling around at Lolly and Pops!

At the park in Asheville.

Dawson and Mommy at the swings.

This park was awesome. It even had the kids swings

small enough for Dawson to use, and he LOVED it!

The park also had this cool playhouse that Dawson

and I climbed in.

This was Dawson's favorite thing to do at the White's house!

He loved pushing his truck up and down their hallway.

Another picture of Dawson pushing his truck.

Dawson chewing his fingers. He does this all the time now!

You can see the playhouse at the park behind him.

Cassandra and Me (and Baby White).

Our family at the park.

Dawson and Mommy on the curvy slide.

The Littlest Leprechaun

Last week Dawson got to start brushing his teeth for the first time since he finally has teeth to brush. So far, he likes having his teeth brushed every time we've done it. He has a blue Winnie the Pooh tooth brush and Tootie Frutie flavored Thomas the Tank Engine toothpaste. I have posted a couple of pictures below of his first time having his teeth brushed.
Also, yesterday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day and a friends birthday with 6 of our friends. We had a St. Patrick's Day bib, shirt, and hat for Dawson, and our friend, Melanie, brought green glitter hats for everyone! We had dinner at Bandito Burrito in historic, downtown Madison and then came back to our house for some Wii games and a delicious birthday cake that our friend Kelly made. We had a great time celebrating Dawson's first St. Patrick's Day with great friends! We are also looking forward to seeing family and our friends in North Carolina in the coming week, so look for more pictures soon!
We hope all of you had a great St. Patrick's Day as well!

Above: Dawson's first tooth brushing! :)
Above: I couldn't get this picture to rotate. This is Dawson's
first toothbrush and toothpaste.

Above: Dawson and I before going out to dinner for St.

Patrick's Day. He had just woken up from his nap so he looks

kind of dazed! :)

Above: Dawson and John before we left for

dinner at Bandito Burrito.

Above: Our little leprechaun eating puffs wishing he had

some lucky charms to eat! :)

Above: Serious leprechaun.

Above: A good shot of the bib Dawson's Aunt

Emily gave him for St. Patrick's Day.

Above: "Where are me lucky charms?"

Above: Dawson wouldn't quit eating for

a picture.

Dawson's Social Life :)

This week was not as busy with fun stuff as last week since John and I took on a project we've been putting off for sometime now. This week during all of Dawson's nap times everyday we took everything out of our attic, re-organized it, put plywood down in the attic so our boxes and crates would not have to balance on beams and we would have more space, and then put everything back in the attic. It turned out to be the perfect week for the project because it wasn't too hot or too cold in the attic, but it still wasn't a fun job. We're pleased to have this projected completed though! :)
So that's probably about the most boring thing I've ever posted on our blog, so thank goodness for Dawson's social life to bring some fun into our work-filled week! :) This was the third week Dawson and I have hosted a little playdate at our house, and it's so much fun! This week Dawson's friends Matthew (9 months), Jude (14 months), and Caroline (3 years) and their mom's, Stephanie and Blakeley, came over on Thursday afternoon when John had to go into work for a while. Each week we have playgroup, Dawson interacts more and more with the other kids! This week Dawson successfully stole two of his friends sippy cups and tried to pull up on his friend Matthew's hair (to Dawson's defense :) he doesn't know much about hair on a baby since he doesn't have too much of it), but everyone had a good time. His friend Jude showed him how to bravely go down the slide, Caroline showed him how to swing like a big kid, and Dawson watched Matthew clap (something Dawson now only does when he feels like it since he's decided waving bye-bye is more fun). I love having the other moms over as it provides some adult interaction in my day, and I like to let Dawson have time to play with his friends too.
In other Dawson news...
Dawson's first tooth is all the way through the gums, but now he's cutting the one right next to it. This one doesn't seem to be bothering him as bad though.
Dawson loves to walk holding on to everything and anything, even just balancing himself against the wall with one hand. This week he has started standing and letting go for just a few seconds before he looses his balance or grabs on to the nearest object to regain balance. He's getting braver and braver with standing and walking!
Next week's blog update should be more interesting as John and I don't have a boring project to tackle next week, and we're looking forward to a visit from some family!
Enjoy this week's pictures below...

Above: Dawson crawled over to check out what Matthew was

doing with the blocks.
Above: I couldn't get a good angle on this picture where
you could see both boys' faces, but Dawson is giving
his friend a huge smile (you can kind of tell from the side).


Above: Dawson dressed in his Vols t-shirt before
watching the basketball game on tv Thursday night.
This is in our front yard, and I tried to get him to look.
There were too many distractions outside though.

A Busy Week for the Zorio Family

Last week was a busy week for us with a lot of little things going on, but we had fun and got to see a lot of friends we hadn't seen in quiet a while! On Monday Dawson's friend Jude (14 months) came over for a playdate. Dawson had a great time playing with his friend, and I enjoyed visiting with Jude's mom, Blakeley, while the two played.
On Tuesday evening John's friend, Brad, from when he interned came in town for business. Brad currently lives in Minneapolis and it actually snowed here the day he was in town. John had a good time getting together with his friend to catch up on Tuesday evening.
Wednesday Dawson got an early birthday gift from his Nana and Grandad. It is called a Swing Along Castle by Little Tikes. It's all plastic and has a little swing and slide that are just his size. We wanted him to go ahead and start playing with it, but it was still too cold for outside...so, we now have a Swing Along Castle in our house! We put it in the playroom, and Dawson loves it. He likes to swing but still looks a little cautious as he swings, and he likes to slide when John holds him the whole way down controlling this speed. He always crawls straight to it in his playroom though. He loves his first birthday gift! It's hard to believe that his birthday is just 2 and a half months away, but we are starting to plan his party for the day after his birthday Saturday, May 15.
Then on Thursday our friend, Lance, came to visit us from Knoxville. We had not seen Lance in a long time, and he had never met Dawson so we were excited to see him! Thursday evening John and Lance had fun going down to Birmingham for a UT College of Business Alumni Fundraiser at the Summit Center. Thursday afternoon Dawson and I went by the company where I used to work to say hi, and it was great to see everyone there. Dawson showed off his speed crawling by taking off down the long hallway.
Then on Saturday morning Dawson and I packed up and drove up to Nashville to Abbey and Jon's house where my other friend, Lauren, was spending the weekend in from Atlanta. We had a great time relaxing and visiting while Dawson crawled around their house trying to see what trouble he could find. This morning Dawson and I drove back home to Huntsville, and he was very happy to be back in his playroom. Now we're ready to take a couple of days to relax after our busy week, but I'm not sure that Dawson knows we want to relax! :)
In Dawson news...
YES! He was/is actually cutting a tooth. His lower left middle tooth is almost all the way through his gums, so he will actually (I was beginning to wonder) have at least one tooth by his first birthday to eat cake with! :)

Above: Dawson and his friend Jude. Dawson is giving me the

look that says, "Mooom, don't take another picture!"
Above: John and Dawson LOVE to
play blocks!

Above: More blocks.

Above: Dawson would not stop looking at Lance for me to

get a picture. :)

Above: But we finally got one!

Above: The weather was nice on Friday afternoon

so we all went for a walk...all of us meaning John,

Bentley, Dawson, Tigger, Pooh, and me!

Above: At the top of the swing along castle!

Above: About to slide!

Above: Action picture...coming down the slide!

Above: Enjoying swinging but still looking slightly

serious about it!

Above: Dawson wiggling off Lauren's lap. Abbey

took more pictures this weekend, but I have to

get them from her!

Above: Dawson was SO happy to come home

to his playroom today!

Lolly's Visit

Over the weekend Dawson's Lolly (my mom) came down from Maryville for a visit, and we had a great weekend! We spent most of the time Lolly was here playing in Dawson's new playroom (more info on the new playroom later!), and Dawson was a showoff as usual. He showed his Lolly how to play with all of his toys, how he can crawl very fast, and how he can "cruise" around furniture and toys. While she was here we also went out to eat and went shopping at Bridge Street. Dawson had a great time with his Lolly and loved the extra attention. Dawson and I were happy she got to come down for a visit, and we hope she will get to come back soon with Dawson's Pop and Uncle Logan!

In other Zorio family news...

For the past two and a half weeks, we have been putting our schedule-resistant Dawson on a routine in hopes that it will help him to start sleeping through the night. Yes, that's right, he's 9 months old and doesn't sleep through the the night, but I'm determined that by the time he turns one in May that he will sleep through the night! :) Out of the past 16 days he has been on his new routine he has slept through the night 6 times which is WONDERFUL! Before the schedule he would sleep through the night about 1 time a week, so this is much, much better. Keep your fingers crossed that he continues sleeping through the night more frequently. John and I feel like real people for the first time in months now that we're getting uninterrupted sleep!

For the past week Dawson has been biting everything again, so we think he might be working on a tooth. Don't look for any pictures of his first tooth any time soon though because we've thought that he has been teething about 4 times before with no tooth ever showing up! We will keep you posted on the news of the possible first tooth, though.

Last week John and I decided our little speed crawler needed a room where he could play and crawl that had a lot of open space and was mostly baby proofed, so we decided to convert our guest room to a playroom for Dawson. I was very hesitant to give up our guest room because I enjoy having a space for guests, but I knew Dawson would get more use from a playroom. So, we now have a playroom! Note to guests: We still welcome company at any time, and we have an air mattress you can sleep on! :)

After converting our guest room into a safe play area, I decided to invite some of Dawson friends over for a play date. His friends Matthew (9 months), Caroline (3 years), Jack (15 months) and their moms came over for a play date. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures, but they all played together and had a good time! I am planning another playdate this week and will have to remember to get out the camera.

We are looking forward to this week because our friend, Lance, is coming to visit on Thursday. One of John's friends, Brad, who interned with Target when John did is coming in town from Minneapolis on Tuesday evening for business, but is planning to stop by for a visit. We're looking forward to seeing friends from out of town this week and having a playdate!

Enjoy the pictures below...

Above: Dawson happy to be with his Lolly at Atlanta Bread.

Above: Dawson enjoying bread at Atlanta Bread.

Above: Dawson and Bentley begging to get out of the pack n play!

Above: "The Grass Is Always Greener"

We put a baby gate on the door to the playroom,

and Bentley always wants in while Dawson wants out!

Above: A room full of toys and the most fun

thing to do is pull up on the baby gate (in

his pjs).


Above: The guest room before we made it a playroom.

Above: Guests can pretend they're staying here while

actually sleeping on an air mattress surrounded by toys. :)

Happy Engagement Day!

Four years ago today John proposed, so today is our "engagement day!" Below are a couple of pictures from the night he proposed!

Above: John and I at my parents house after getting engaged.
Above: John and I with the limo!