How is it already September? Peter has been on a business trip for half of forever. He comes home tomorrow. He is the most missed man in the world. Annie has really learned to walk while he has been gone. I haven't told him how much she is walking in hope that he will be surprised to see his little moblie munchkin. Leah has begun school, and she loves it! She can barely even turn around to wave goodbye when I walk her into the classroom. She enjoys the snack time and painting. SHe has begun to read her books "like a teacher" holding the picture out for everyone in the room to see.

thedawsons

These days are a blur. Annie is a busy bee. She is almost walking--please say it isn't so. She is so fast on the crawl. She is crawling up the stairs, and we now have gates on both the top and bottom. She is still 1000 smiles a day with her gorgeous blue eyes and eyelashes that practically sweep the floor. She likes the swimming pool and her little turtle float more and more. She's still our sensitive little Annie.

Peter began a new job within the company last week. He thinks he'll like it. I hope so. He is busy with school and work, sweet man that he is.

And me. Oh my. I have found the summer refreshing. Reading some pages of a good book when I can. Maybe I have succeeded in reading 20 pages (cumulative) of 16 books over the past month. Catching a workout here and there. Trying to be a more balanced person. I don't know what it looks like to "be a more balanced person" when I have two small children. And I know some day I want to throw a third child into the mix. No day soon. But some day. And I wonder if all of "me" will hibernate for the next 10-20 years. Will there be a "me" to come out of the cave of childrearing when it's time. Unfortunately, unlike the grizzly bears, I will come out of the cave fatter and more grizzly--I assume. But I still look during these years for that magic elixir of happiness. And I know deep down that it is not external to me--not in the material sense anyway. But still I feel that these precious blonde angels eclipse all of me most of the time. So maybe that's why I am blogging.

Leah is taken with beads. At first, the beads were for necklaces. She proudly wore her wares when we went out to run errands. She made them for everyone, and my bead necklace was a special combination of hearts, dolphins, Model-T fords, and letters from the alphabet. But as with everything in the two-year old world of imagninations, the beads are now cakes or doggies. She fills every container imaginable with the $15 worth of beads that I purchased from Hobby Lobby. I love to see her abstract way of imagining new purposes for her toys. I say that a bead is a bead, but "No, Mommy. It's a beagle. It's a retriever."

She says the cutest "adult slang" lately. "Cool, mommy. Really cool."

Andy and Jessy spent time with us this weekend, and Leah was particularly taken with Andy. Her GrandNana thinks that she has a "preference" for men. I am not sure about that. I think that she has a preference for goofy, goofy adults who are not afraid to get down on the floor and act silly with her.

Annie is pulling up on everything. Her legs never stop moving. If you pick her up, her legs move back and forth and wiggle and squirm. She is ITCHING to get a move on. She is sort of crawling---very slowly. Her favorite recreation is standing up in her crib. She also enjoys bouncing a good deal. I think that she might be a dancer. Still one tooth. Still 50 smiles a minute. I adore babies. The baby phase is so fun.