Dawson is ONE!!

So our little Dawson turned one year old yesterday and we can't believe how quickly this past year has gone by. It's been so much fun to watch him grow and learn new things but I'm also a little sad to see him get older. He's not quite walking but he's able to stand for a few seconds at a time and he's also taken a couple of steps toward me, so I don't think it will be long now.
We took him to the zoo in the morning and he had a lot of fun watching the monkeys, giraffes, zebras and all of the other animals but he started getting tired after about an hour so we thought it would be best if we went home before he got too cranky. Scott and I took turns playing with him the rest of the afternoon while we got the house ready for his birthday party. We decided to do an open house from 6:30 to 8:00 pm so that people could come and go when they wanted. I sent out the invitations a couple of weeks ago and they turned out really cute (see top picture). The party also turned out really well and we had a lot of people show up to wish Dawson a happy birthday. We bought a chocolate cake from Costco with the words: "Happy Birthday Dawson - The fun has already begun!" on it. I also made him his own cake and it sure was fun to watch him eat it even though he quickly became covered with cake and frosting from head to toe. Scott and I gave him a bath and then brought him back downstairs to play with the kids who were still there. He was pretty hopped up on sugar from the cake so he was bouncing off the walls. The last people didn't leave the party until 9:30 and we were glad we had such a good turnout. Dawson got a lot of great toys, books and cute clothes and we sure appreciate all of the relatives, friends and neighbors who came to celebrate his birthday with us.