Another Tooth!

Dawson's 2nd tooth has finally made an appearance! 3 weeks after the first! I honestly expected to see it a lot sooner. It's been sitting just below his gums for weeks now. Unfortunately, this one isn't coming in as fast or as easy as the first one did. :-( I could tell he wasn't feeling good last night because he woke up crying a number of times throughout the night. And when he was sleeping, he was moaning and groaning. Poor little guy. I gave him some teething tablets and that seemed to help a little bit.

When he woke up this morning, I could tell that his gums were hurting so I did a little bit of feeling around and sure enough a piece of his tooth is poking out! It hasn't made much progress today, before I put him down for the night, I felt again and it's still just barely poking out. I hope it comes up quickly. I hate seeing him hurting. I made sure to give him some teething tablets every 4 hours and I also gave him 2 doses of Tylenol today. And of course I made sure that there was always a cold teething ring nearby in case he wanted it. Good thing I stocked up on teething rings! I think we have about 8 of them! *lol* Oh, also I put some ice in the blender for him. I made sure before I gave it to him that all the pieces were small with no sharp edges. It was pretty much like the ice you would use in an Icee. I put the ice in his mesh baby feeder and he loved it!

Here's a picture of the mesh feeder to give you a better idea of what I am talking about:




We've had the mesh feeder for awhile now but I never really use it. We used one of them in San Diego a few months ago and we put bananas in it for him. But I ended up throwing it away because I couldn't get all the bananas out! No matter how hard I scrubbed or how long I soaked it in hot water, it was not coming clean! I'm glad I saved the other one, though. I doubt I will use it for food but I will definitely use it for ice if I need to again!

Another thing that seemed to help him feel a little better, for awhile at least, was trying some new finger foods! :-) When I went grocery shopping the other day I picked up a few things that Dawson hadn't tried yet. And today he tried them all!

Dawson meets the Biter Biscuit... dun-dun-dun!


It was a huge success AND a huge mess! :-)

He also tried Cheerios for the first time and some Mild Cheddar Lil' Crunchies. Both of those were a hit as well!


I didn't realize how messy the biter biscuits were going to be. As soon as he finished eating, it was time to take a bath!


Mmm...duck. *lol* Can you tell that he is teething?

I rinsed him off really quick and then let him play for a few minutes. This was his 2nd bath of the day...next time I know not to bathe him before giving him a biter biscuit!

Time to splash!


It feels good to be clean!


And last but not least, a picture of his new tooth! The picture is blurry but if you enlarge it, you can see a speck of white where his new tooth has just broke through and then a bigger piece if white next to it...the tooth that he got 3 weeks ago! :-)


Happy Birthday, Andrea! My niece turned two today! :-)

9 Month Checkup

We met Dawson's new pediatrician today! He's great! I knew he would be though, because he is my brothers and sisters pediatrician too! Dawson is doing awesome and still growing, of course. His weight has slowed down a bit though. That scared me at first...he only gained 10 ounces in almost 2 months! The doctor asked if he was crawling and asked how active he was, once I told him he army crawls every where and he hardly ever sits still, he said that his weight is just fine. He's still in the 90th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for length! (22 lbs 15 oz and 30.5 inches!)

I posted this a couple of months ago but I figured I would post it again with his post current stats added. :-)

Date/(Age)--------- Weight--------Length
-----------------------(Percentile)---(Percentile)

10/25 (birth) ------- 8lbs 10oz ----------20.5
10/30 (5 days) ------8lbs 5oz (67%) -----20.5
11/8 (2 weeks) ----- 9lbs 0oz (54%) ---- 21.5 (76%)
11/16 (3 weeks) ---- 9lbs 2oz (63%) ----- 21.5
12/9 (6 weeks) ----- 9lbs 10oz (23%) --- 22.5 (63%)
12/16 (7 weeks) ---- 11lbs 1oz (59%) ---- 23.5
1/8 (11 weeks) ----- 13lbs 11oz (76%) --- 25 (93%)
1/27 (3 months) ---- 16lbs 0oz ---------- 26
2/23 (4 months) ---- 17lbs 6oz (96%) --- 27 (99%)
4/28 (6 months) ---- 20lbs 8oz (87%) --- 27.5 (78%)
6/3 (7 months) ----- 22lbs 5oz ------------------
7/27 (9 months) ----- 22 lbs 15oz (90%) -- 30.5 (95%)

It's fun to see how much he has grown. :-)

I almost forgot! Dawson has been wearing his dinosaur pj's for the last 2 nights. Lately I have been telling him things like, "doggy says woof woof, kitty says meow meow" so when I put his dinosaur pj's on, I told him "dinosaurs say rawr!" He laughs every time I say it...I've probably told him dinosaurs say rawr 20 or 30 times over the last 2 days.

So, anyway, we're sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office this afternoon and there was a little girl who was 16 months old, also waiting with her parents. She kept coming over and waving to Dawson, it was really cute. Then Dawson started saying "RAWRRRRRR!" He said it over and over. I was laughing so hard. *lol* He's never said it back to me when I have said it to him and then all of a sudden he starts saying it to this little girl. I wish I would of had my video camera! He says it in a "scary" voice, too! It's hilarious! Hopefully I can get him to do it again.

Before we went to the doctor, we stopped by Best Buy so I could get the FireWire that I needed to be able to put videos in the blog again!

Here is the video that I mentioned in my last blog. Dawson is playing with the awesome toy that my sister gave him and he claps and dances in the video, too. (It starts off a little dark but I move so you can see him better)

9 Months Old!

Dawson is 9 months old today! Time seems like it's flying by and he is learning so much, so fast! I wanted to include a video with this post but I haven't got around to buying the fire wire that I need to get the video from the camera to the computer. All the previous videos that I have posted, I was using the laptop but Dave took the laptop with him and we don't have the wire that we need for the desktop. I will get it soon though!

Dawson has learned so much within the last 2 or 3 weeks. First he started clapping, it's so cute! If I start to sing Patty Cake he knows to start clapping. Or if I say YAY! he claps. He claps a lot, it's adorable.

He has also sat himself up twice! *edit - Make that THREE times! woot!* (From his belly to the sitting position) He definitely has not mastered that yet but he's trying.

He has been saying mama (along with a few other words) for a few months now but I think he finally knows that I am mama! It's so cute!!! If he wants me to pick him up he crawls (army crawls) over to me and he says "mama!" or "mum" as he is reaching for me. I love it!

He likes to stand up, too. While he is holding my hands or holding onto something of course. He hasn't tried to pull himself up yet but he is standing for longer periods of time.

And lastly, he has started dancing to music. It's so cute. He puts his hands up and kind of sways back and forth. Or twists back and forth from the waist up as he is sitting down. I wish I could put the video in here already! The way he dances is so cute!

I think that's about it for the new stuff that he has started doing. We have his 9 month checkup on Monday so I will be sure to post his height and weight then.

Before I go I wanted to post a picture of a cake that I made for Drea's birthday party. She turns 2 on the 31st but they had her party for her today. It was a lot of fun!

Here's the cake:


It's a cake in the shape of a giant cupcake! Along with regular cupcakes. :-P The entire cake is edible, I made it out of cake, candy and frosting. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It was really yummy and a big hit at the party. :-)

Dawson's Space: Part 3

I have finally taken pictures of Dawson's room! My sister, Arika, slept over last night. It's amazing how much more I can get done when there is somebody here to watch Dawson for me!

I was a little behind on my laundry and I've been able to get caught up on that. I was able to practice part of a cake that I want to make. And I was finally able to take pictures of Dawson's room like I have been wanting to! This post will wrap-up our Dawson's Space series. :-P

Dawson's room hasn't really changed much from his room in San Diego. He still has the Snoopy Sports theme. I guess the biggest change is his room is a lot smaller here so we had to put his chest in the spare bedroom/office. I don't use the chest right now anyway. I like to hang most of his clothes.

So here it is!


If you click on this next picture to enlarge it, you can see Dawson's tooth again! It's came up so much now that I don't have to try to look for it, or try to get a picture of it, it just shows up when he smiles. :-)


I'm really surprised that his second tooth has not broke through yet. It's been nearly 2 weeks since he got his first tooth and I have been able to see his other bottom tooth just below the gums for over a week now!

Here is a picture of a cute sailor bear that my dad and Carrie gave to Dawson just after he was born:



And lastly, here is Dawson standing in his crib:


He still does not pull himself up yet, I stood him up for the picture. As soon as he starts trying to pull himself up I will take his bumpers out so he can't climb on them! I've left them in this long because he is a WILD sleeper! He moves around so much and is always hitting his head against the bumpers.

His mattress is on the lowest setting (well besides the setting for when we convert it into a toddler bed) but it still seems like when he is standing up, if he were to lean over the side he would fall out. I don't know if I am being paranoid or what but I'd like to hear other opinions based on the picture above. Does he look too tall? Does anybody know how high the railing should come up on him for him to be safe? And lastly if I did lower the mattress to the toddler bed height, is it ok to still use the bed as a crib?

Broncos!

I just wanted to share some pictures of the cute onesie that I found today! :-) It also came with a bib and some booties. And when I saw the hat, I had to get that too!


And the back...

Dawson's Space: Part 2

Part 2 was supposed to be about Dawson's bedroom but I keep forgetting to take pictures! The only time I think to take pictures of his room is when he is taking a nap! I guess I could probably get away with taking a few pictures while he is sleeping without waking him up. He did sleep through LOUD fireworks on the 4th of July! Nap time only happens twice a day though, I'm not sure if I am willing to risk waking him up. *lol*

Anyway, part 2 is now going to be about his bathroom! I know, I know, he's only 8 1/2 months old, he doesn't need a bathroom but our apartment has 2 bathrooms, the one in the master bedroom is mine and the other one is his (and whoever comes over to visit us).

Here is the shower curtain. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can see the monkey hooks, they are adorable! :-)


The towels:


Toothbrush holder and soap dispenser:


And the garbage can:


Isn't it so cute?! I'm still looking for a picture to go on the wall that the door is on. I think I remember seeing some monkey pictures at Babies R Us a few months ago, hopefully they still have them and hopefully they will match!

Check back soon for part 3! ;-)

Daddy Doll

Today's post was supposed to be part 2 in my Dawson's Space series (if you missed the first one you can read it here) but I got Dawson's Daddy Doll in the mail yesterday so I thought I'd post about that.

Before we left San Diego, Dave went to deployment briefing that was held on the ship. I was supposed to go too but we would have had to bring Dawson and the stairs on the ship scare me. Those of you that have been on the ship know what I am talking about! They are so steep and you don't have much room at all. I am such a worrywart...I know I worry too much but I can't help it...I didn't want to miss a step or slip and hit Dawson's head or something. Anyway, at the briefing they gave Dave this form to fill out for a free Daddy Doll for Dawson to have while Dave is deployed.

Here is Dawson with it today:


It has a picture of Dave in his uniform and it says "Daddy loves you" at the bottom. So far Dawson doesn't really play with much. But he does get really excited when I show it to him and tell him to say hi dada. :-) He'll usual wave to it. I love it. I'm happy that we were able to get it.

Here is the website we ordered it from www.hugahero.com they have a lot of neat stuff for military families.

Also, I got a REALLY good picture of Dawson's tooth today!!! In the pictures that I posted the other day it was really hard to see but I'm pretty sure everybody will be able to see it in this picture. Don't forget to click on it to enlarge it!


This is the same picture but I added a pointer just in case you still can't find his tooth. ;-)


I'm pretty sure that his second tooth is going to make an appearance any day now! :-) Hopefully it comes in just as easily as the first one did.

Dawson's Space: Part 1

We've been settled into our apartment for a few weeks now and I love it! (Besides the walls still being bare...I'll start working on that soon, though!) It would be perfect if Dave was able to stay...but since we have no choice, I am at least happy to be 5 minutes or less away from almost my entire family. :-)

I haven't had much to write about lately so I figured I would show a few pictures of our apartment. I'm going to break it into 3 parts: Part 1 - Dawson's play area, Part 2 - Dawson's bedroom and Part 3 - Dawson's bathroom. Not that he needs a bathroom yet but I had a theme in mind and when I saw it at the store I had to get it! I love how it turned out! It's my favorite part of "Dawson's Space" and that's why I'm saving it for last. :-)

Anyway, moving along...Dawson's "play area" is in the living room so that's where most of his toys are. Instead of a toy box we decided to use something else to hold his toys. It's in the living room right now but will eventually be moved into his room once he is old enough to play in his room.


Isn't it cute? I love it. Like I said before this is in the living room (well, in between the living room and dining area) right now.


That, obviously, is a picture of our living room. I love how open it is so Dawson has a lot of space to scoot around. (Speaking of scooting...or army crawling, I guess it's called, I really wish he would start CRAWLING soon! He's been getting a little bit of rug burn on his arms lately.)

I think I mentioned in a previous blog that we bought a matching sofa and love seat set but the love seat wont be in stock until August 6th, so right now we just have the sofa. I was originally going to put the love seat where the jumperoo is but that will make the living room so small and Dawson scoots every where. I wouldn't be able to sit on the couch while he played because he's so fast and I know he wouldn't stay in that small of an area for long.

So, my second thought was move the love seat into the spare bedroom when we finally get it. It's only me and Dawson here most of the time anyways so it's not like I really need the love seat.

BUT then I came up with a genius idea! I'm going to move the TV stand over (so it's on the same wall but closer to the entry way) and move the sofa over (on the same wall that it's on but further from the sliding door) and then I am going to put the love seat in front of the sliding door. It might look a little weird but Dawson loves to play with blinds (is that what they're called?) and I'm scared he is going to rip them down one day, so putting the love seat in front of them will prevent him from playing with them. :-) Hopefully it doesn't look too stupid or else I will just end up with the love seat in the spare bedroom.

Hopefully that makes sense. I'll post more pictures when we finally get the love seat!

Lastly, here is another picture. This gives you a better idea of where his toys are.


I usually get a few toys out for him and he'll play in the living room...for the most part anyway. Lately he has been wandering down the hall and into the kitchen...I might have to get a gate soon!

That's it for now.

Exciting News

Dawson cut his first tooth!!! I can't believe it! I'm seriously so shocked! I had no idea that he was teething! He's been the same happy baby that he's always been. (*knock on wood* that he stays that way. :-P) Anyway, he chews on my finger just about everyday, he's been doing it for a while now so I haven't thought anything of it. This morning was no different...he was laying on the couch, gnawing of my finger and I felt absolutely nothing.

Now fast forward to dinner-time. My sister and brother-in-law came over to make me dinner. As I was eating I was feeding Dawson his baby food. He ate good like he usually does and when he was finished with his dinner I gave him a few puffs so he could feed himself. I was watching him eat and I thought I saw something white in his mouth. I waited for him to finish and then I put my finger in his mouth and I felt a jagged tooth! I couldn't believe it! Then I looked closer at his gums and sure enough there is a tooth there! Almost the whole tooth has broke through already! In a matter of hours! There was definitely nothing there this morning!!!

Here are the best pictures that I could get. Click on them to enlarge. It's his bottom right tooth. (On your left. :-P) The second picture is kind of blurry but I think you can see it better when it's enlarged.



In other news, Dave flew back to San Diego on Wednesday. It was so hard to say goodbye to him and even harder to watch him say goodbye to Dawson. :-( His ship will be deploying soon and we wont see him for 7-9 months. :-( I'll hopefully be able to write more about this later but as of right now I'm way too emotional to talk/write about it.

We miss you, dada!!!

Denver Pictures

I just wanted to post some pictures from our Denver trip. I don't have very many to share because we were having the WORST luck with our camera! First of all, we forgot our memory card! Our camera will only hold about 10 pictures without the memory card...and we already had pictures stored on the camera so we couldn't take any more! Two days into our trip we finally bought a memory card and thought we were all set! After we took a few pictures, the batteries died! Ugh. I ended up finding batteries in the diaper bag...those turned out to be dead as well! Then I asked my aunt if she had some, she had two left and guess what?! Those were dead, too! I guess we just weren't meant to take a lot of pictures on this trip!

Here are few that we did get! Here is Dawson with his mema (Dave's mom) eating some dinner! Yum! You can also kind of see his papaw (Dave's dad) in the background!


Dave's brother and sister-in-law, Chris and Brandy with their daughter Sienna and of course, Dawson.


Dawson with his cousins, Riley and Brendan:


And last but not least, Dawson and Seven:


Dawson LOVES dogs! He gets so excited and happy when he sees them. It's so cute. I am going to have to take the video camera next time we visit somebody with dogs because Dawson laughs so much when he first sees them. Then he just wants to pet and play with them. :-) It's adorable.

P.S. If anybody has pictures from our trip will you please send them to me. :-)

Fourth of July

Happy fourth of July! I'm posting this blog a little late again but we just got home from my parents house and I don't want to get too far behind on my posts! I still need to post about our Denver trip but I figure since today is the Fourth of July, I should post about that. :-)

We just got home from Denver yesterday so I spent the first part of the day unpacking our suitcases, doing laundry and cleaning all the bottles and spoons that we took with us. Dave and Dawson played so I could get everything done faster.

At about 4:00 we headed over to my parents for a bbq. Dawson usually goes to sleep between 8:00 and 9:00 and it doesn't get dark until after 9, so we bought a few fireworks of our own to do for Dawson while it was still light outside. He watched them but didn't get too excited over them like I thought he would. He was really tired though, he usually takes a nap around 4:00 or 5:00 but there was a lot of people at my parents house so his nap only lasted about 15 minutes! I'm sure he'll get into them a lot more next year. :-)

I think Dawson fell asleep a little before 9:00 in his stroller. We decided to stay a little while and watch the fireworks that my family and neighbors we going to do. (Fireworks that shoot off the ground are illegal in Utah but my parents neighbor always drives up to Wyoming and buys all the good stuff :-P) We sat out on the porch and watched them light them off. They were so LOUD and Dawson didn't move at all. He must have been super tired!!!

Here are a couple pictures from today. :-) I hope everybody had a fun and safe 4th!

Our All American Boy:


I love the BabyLegs that he has on! They are so much cuter than the brown pair we had. My friend told me about this website where I got 3 pairs of BabyLegs for $20, five dollars of that was for shipping. BabyLegs are normally $12 for each pair! I love them because he is still scooting around everywhere and if he has shorts on, or if he is just in a diaper he could very easily get rug burn but not when he has his BabyLegs on. :-)

And here is a family picture. Notice our red, white and blue theme. :-)

From left to right: my brother Bronson, my dad, my mom, my sister Arika, me, Dawson, Dave, my brother-in-law Andy, my niece Hailee, my sister Brandee and my niece Drea.

The Knot

It's a little after midnight here and I am waiting for Dave to get home. He is still driving home from Denver. Dawson and I flew in to Salt Lake at about 5:00 pm, so Dave and my sisters are quite a few hours behind us. I expect him home within the hour though and then I can finally go to sleep! :-)

In the meantime I have been playing around on the internet. Out of boredom I googled my name (maiden and married name). I was surprised to see that our old wedding page on The Knot showed up! It's been a long time since I have seen this page and I thought it was fun to read what we had written nearly 3 years ago!

I laughed at myself when I read that I wrote that I didn't like watching TV, especially reality TV. I am so addicted to reality TV now, it's pretty much all that I watch...and no, I don't feel any dumber. <--- You'll get that when you read the webpage I am talking about. It was neat to read about how me and Dave met and how he proposed. Not that I had forgotten either one of those things but it's still fun to read about and think back at. Here is the page that I am talking about:

Our Wedding Webpage

Hopefully the link works correctly!

If you'd like, please leave a comment about how you and your husband met and how he proposed. :-) It will be fun to be able to read about different stories.