Maverick's actual birthday was the Saturday over labor day weekend and we had planned to go out of town but plans fell through so we found ourselves in town making plans! We went for a fun RZR ride over the mountains into Midway and went to Swiss Days, we saw the parade and got lunch with some friends. We went to Barnes' cabin for a little bit and they got a little cake for Maverick! It was so adorable. He is so used to having other people have the attention, when he realized we were all singing to him he got so excited! That night we went to Chuckee Cheese and played games and ate pizza... and the kids thought it was the greatest.

Maverick's birthday party we had the following Tuesday night. We invited lots of friends and family and neighbors for a casual dessert night and had a lot of fun. All the kids were playing into the night and Maverick was of course happy as could be. He loved his Hunny pot cake. We all sang him Happy Birthday and then gave him his cake. He wasn't sure at first so we let all the kids dip a finger in and then he got the idea. He had fistfuls of frosting and was loving it. We also served marshmallow honeycomb clusters, teddy bear trail mix, magic cookie bars, bit o' honey, rolos, cookies, lemon bars, and lemonade.

Maverick: one whole year

Maverick:

When I think back to our first few months together, life was filled with chaos and crying. You were a hard newborn... colicky, upset, and trying to find your place in our busy life. I was tired and stressed but through that time I was blessed to know that if I helped you the best I knew how, and loved you and just stayed as patient as I could then we would come out better for it. That blessing was granted in a big way.

You are now my happiest and most good-natured baby. You have a smile for anyone who asks and as long as you feel included and appreciated, you are happy to go along with anything we do! You absolutely love your brother and sister. You want and expect to be included in anything they do and you are so happy to be with them. You have recently become a big fan of Daddy and you love being with him whenever you can. And you are my mama's boy, I'm so proud to say that. All of our long nights together created a special bond that warms my heart.

You like to be on the go and experiencing things. You don't analyze or examine things for very long before moving on but you don't like to do things alone. You are not super vocal, but very expressive. You are stubborn and determined but in different ways than your siblings have been. In some ways you are my most fearless, not because push your limits...but because you have a constant willingness to experience. You never went through stranger danger and you've never shown fear.

You are loved by all... Your beautiful blue eyes, your perfect cheeks, your light fuzzy hair and your adorable big toothy grin make even strangers stop and say hi to you (to which you respond with a smile and a wave). Your easy going attitude and love for adventures make you the perfect addition to our family. You have an innate sweetness that draws people to you. 

You are your own person. You hold several similarities to other members of the family, but all with your own Maverick twist. You are so special to us, we love you Mav Man! This year has gone by way too fast. We can't wait to see you continue to grow!

Maverick: 12 months old

My baby is not such a baby anymore. He's getting so big and developing and he legitimately thinks he's one of the big kids now. He tries to keep up and he is almost always happy and smiley with his sparkly blue eyes. He smiles the biggest when we catch him doing something sneaky. He's so pleasant and fun to be with.

Eats: He's been in full rebellion against baby food. Will absolutely not eat anything from a spoon and will only eat with his hands. He dislikes fruits and veggies and loves carbs. Especially cheeto puffs. He has a total sweet tooth and the one food that he gets impatient for is vanilla ice cream.... he's yelling for the next bite as soon as its left his mouth. He is an incredibly messy eater. We've switched his to whole milk and he's had no problem with it (I was a little worried because we had always used the sensitive formula with his because of his tummy problems in the beginning). He likes it warmed up and drinks 3 bottles a day. He also loves to drink from a straw.  

Sleeps: He goes to bed around 8:30 and still wakes up around 7 for a bottle, then falls back to sleep until about 9. This is subject to his teething schedule which throws everything off. He still sometimes sneaks a cat nap in the morning (just if he is in his car seat) and then takes about a 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoons. 

Plays: He is SO close to walking on his own. He's such a tease... he could totally walk if he wanted. He will walk pushing things on holding onto fingers but as soon as you let go he freezes and drops down to crawl. He is a pro stander, he can stand up from sitting and stands for a long time. Just won't take steps! He claps his hands and will sometimes play peek-a-boo. He is pretty active but always likes to be playing with someone, especially brother and sister. He LOVES to be outside and he really likes playing with balls. He can throw and catch and seems pretty coordinated. There aren't very many other toys that keep his attention for long. Really nothing keeps his attention for too long. He is still obsessed with the toilet and I always find his splashing in the water or unrolling toilet paper. He also loves playing in the bathtub and will dive under the water and splash around... no fear of water for him.  

Also: He will say "mama" "dada" and "baba" and he says "hi" and waves. He will sometimes say "maa" for more. He has a big toothy grin and will always give a smile. Sometimes with new people he likes to play shy and hides for a second then he smiles. He can get loud and screechy when he gets into something. Also now that school has started I get to have some one on one time with him every other day which I thought he would love... but he cries every time we drop off the kids to school! He's mad he doesn't get to stay! Apparently running errands with mom is nothing compared to the allure of preschool.

Firsts: he got his first haircut from Dad: a little mohawk style. His hair has gotten a lot darker but is still staying at a dark blonde.

Stats from his one year check up (on September 29th)
height: 30.75" (72%) // weight: 22 lbs (58%) // head circumference: 18.75" (85%)

Maverick: 11 months old

The thought that my baby is almost a year old makes my heart break. How has this year gone by so fast?! I've been realizing there's subtle ways I've been subconsciously rebelling against my baby growing up. For example: as of a few months ago, he was still in size 2 diapers. I have no idea why I was not more eager to move him up a size or two! He's pretty doted upon in this house, we love our littlest dude.

Eats: He still eats baby food the best. From a spoon not by himself, but best if mom is feeding him not someone else. He loves chocolate, ice cream and meat. He loves any kind of crackers or cheetos. He loves his bottle.

Sleeps: He still wakes up between 6-7 AM for a bottle then goes back to sleep until around 9. In the afternoon he takes about a 2.5 hour nap.

Plays: Obsessed with climbing stairs and playing in the bathroom. He bats at the toilet paper and unrolls it then takes it as far as he can. Or he stands at the toilet and plays in the water. He stands on his own all the time and is really good at it, but hasn't taken any steps on his own  yet. He walks really well pushing things around. He loves chasing balls around and he gets around pretty fast!

Also: He loves any attention he gets but especially just wants to feel like he's a part of things. He's very social. He's happy and smiley and generally such a good natured baby. He is getting good at waving to accompany his smiles for people. He still doesn't talk really but occasionally will say "mama", "baba" or "maa" for more. He'll says other noises and chatter a little but not purposefully. Some of our favorite nicknames for him are: the Mav man, Maveronimus, Mavers, even the kids call him these. 

Firsts: First time to Austin to Grandma and Grandpa's, first time boating and wakeboarding (with dad). First major league baseball game. First time standing on his own.

{ Dickson Days }

We had our first annual "Dickson Days" July 13-17th and it was fantastic. Each day had a different theme and we did activities, ate food and learned things about the theme. This is a tradition I want to do with my kids every summer.. a chance to unplug, get closer, learn and have fun with each other. We had a blast!

Day 1 was "Art Day": We talked about artists and creativity and what art is. We paintes canvases to put in their rooms, made posters, and did shaving cream marbling. We had a painters palette rainbow lunch, played with play dough, made melted crayon art, helped make a puppet theater and puppets then put on a show and had pencil shaped popsicles for dessert! I wasn't sure how many of the projects we would get through but the kids' excitement coupled with pretty short attention spans let us get a lot done! Everything turned out great and was fun to do! I love seeing their creative little minds working.

Day 2 was "Money Day": Tiny silver dollar pancakes for breakfast, learned about different types of money: what we use it for and why we need it. We visited Dad at work and he told us about how my makes money for our family, we got free lunch from chik-fil-a then we had a lemonade stand and for dessert we got to buy snow cones with our earnings! My kids have a super limited concept of money. They literally thought that Paul "makes" money at work... chisels and shapes and pounds out little coins. Caitlin was excited to have a lemonade stand not to make money but to just have everyone come by. She asked me beforehand to text all the mommies and invite people to come to her lemonade stand. We put out everything and when we were waiting for people to come she said, "Well where is everyone? Why aren't they here?" As if she was expecting everyone to come all at once for a party!

Day 3 was "Nature Day": We hiked with friends: caught bugs, collected leaves and ticks and rocks, and played in the waterfall. then we had a picnic lunch at the park, made nectar for the hummingbirds, and caterpillar snacks for us, then had a campfire dinner of hot dogs and s'mores. The hike we did was to Battleground Falls and it was about a mile there and a mile back. The kids were such troopers and there was no complaining. The hike even had a few steep climbs and they did so great! The waterfall at the end was really fun too. We had 5 moms, 13 kids (3 of them being babies carried in backpacks) and 1 dog in our hiking group. I let Maverick get down and play by the rocks at the base of the waterfall and he had no fear. He was rock climbing and getting around amidst the steep slopes and rocks and water!  

 

Day 4 was "Service Day": Taught the kids that "Service is when you do something nice for someone else". We talked about being Christlike, serving others, diversity, and being happy. We talked about ways that people serve us and how we can serve them. We brought donuts to our local fire station to thank them for keeping us safe and we got an awesome tour! We talked about how good we feel when we are kind and started a "warm fuzzies" jar. We made cookies and gave them out to neighbors. We also made hearts and "heart attacked" a few doors. The kids loved being sneaky and imagining how happy they would be when they opened their doors! I taught them diversity by cracking a brown egg and a white egg into a bowl to show we are all the same on the inside. My favorite part of the day was watching the kids be so quiet as they taped hearts to people's doors and ran away giggling.

Day 5 was "Sports + Science Day": When I told the kids what day it was they said "What's science?" We kept it simple with some fun experiments. We played arcade games and then had a Playground Olympics including: 40 m dash, farthest putt, longest bar hang, trampoline tricks and a slam dunk contest. Volcano cups and hot pots, the "naked egg" experiment, and home made lava lamps. We ended it with a RZR ride and some exploring, dinner and a yummy volcano dessert! We had to be a little flexible today as we had some other things going on, and a few things come up but it ended up still being a fun day. For sports I found that Caitlin was a lot more competitive and focused than Nolan. But if given a challenge Nolan will do it and he does have skill.

I felt like I had all these perfect little activities pinned in my Pinterest boards and saw other moms doing cute things with their kids and part of me felt like I would push it off until my kids were older, but then i thought "Why would i wait to create memories and traditions with my kids?" So I did the pinterest projects and I put aside some of my other mom duties for the week and spent time having fun with my kids and I'm so glad I did. I'm excited to see how this tradition grows and changes over the years to fit our growing family. We love being Dicksons!