A rare moment

Tatum's 5-year-old cousin typically has lots of big-boy things to do when we're all together. He runs, climbs, jumps and generally does all kinds of things Tatum can't do yet. So when I captured this photo of Parker reading to Tatum the other night, I was so happy! Better yet, notice the color-coordination going on here...we were carving jack' o lanterns and the boys were dressed in their best black-and-orange in honor of the occasion. AND the book is about a little bat.

Were we feeling our Halloween or what?!

Footie Pajamas

Is there anything cuter? That's all I have to say.

The Monkey and the Octopus

...and the Happy Witch and the SWAT Team leader!

(That covers Tatum and all of his cousins in costume.)

We had a ball attending a local hayride and bonfire over the weekend with Tatum's cousins.  Children were encouraged to come in costume, and my sister's littlest was wearing one of the cutest darned kiddo costumes I've ever seen!

She was a hot pink octopus. I couldn't stop myself from taking picture after picture of her...she just looked too adorable with her little pink legs waving around all over the place!

 

Our little monkey wasn't sure about the feel of the hay itself...

...but he sure did enjoy the hayride!

The "happy witch" (this is what my sister's 2-year-old told us she was dressed as) was cute as she could be.

Such a little lady, with her dainty crossed ankles as she sips her drink.

I tried to get a few pictures of the cousins together, though of course Mr. SWAT team was off running with the big kids (and pretending to drive the tractor from the hayride).

What a fun start to Tatum's first Halloween!

41 Weeks and counting…

So many things are changing for Tatum this month that I need to pause in the enjoyment of his constant evolution to write some of it down. Here goes!

Tatum:
In the past two weeks you’ve started pointing at things, particularly our doggies. You love to point at Sierra and Liam, and occasionally they’ll come right over and lick your finger or you’ll stick it in one of their noses. There’ve been a few times when you’ve pointed at us in response to “Where’s mommy?” or “Where’s daddy?” (Granted sometimes Mommy is Sierra the dog and Daddy is the chair or the light, so I’m not sure we can really claim to have this one down yet!) You’re just fascinated by your hands these days, and will even stop nursing to wave them around in front of your face and laugh in amazement that you have such useful appendages at the ends of your arms. You pinch things up from the floor with alarming ease, even tiny specks of dirt and fuzz (which of course end up in your mouth).

You’ve also started waving, though not necessarily to say hello or goodbye. Actually, it’s often a backwards wave, opening and closing your hand toward yourself, which I love—it’s as though you’re constantly greeting yourself, and what could possibly be better than such positive self-recognition? Every time you run into yourself in the mirror you’re quite happy to catch a glimpse of the handsome boy grinning at you on the other side—I think you quite enjoy being Tatum.

You’ve begun shoveling in the table foods in earnest. These days you pretty much eat what we eat. We had grilled chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes one day over the weekend, and guess what? You had some shredded up pieces of grilled chicken, a small mountain of green beans, and several bites of mashed potatoes! If mommy eats pumpkin bread and yogurt for breakfast, you eat pumpkin bread and yogurt (granted yours is Yo Baby and mine is Greek, but still!). If mommy has cantaloupe for a snack, you have cantaloupe for a snack. You love it all. Except for peas. I’ve tried steamed peas four times now, and this is your pea face (after which you often spit the peas back out onto your tray!):

You cruise in laps around the house with amazing speed, slapping those palms on the floor as fast as you possibly can. No solo steps yet, though you’ll turn to me if you’re standing up while holding onto something, let go of whatever you’re holding onto and lunge toward me. It’s almost a step—and most certainly nerve-wracking, as I’m not always prepared for the lunge!

This is such an incredibly fun time with you. I’m just loving every single day and reveling in your ever-changing abilities. It’s hard to imagine that it will just keep getting better...but I know it will!

40 weeks with monkey:

Batty for Daddy

Tate's dad is on the road for work again this week, so I thought we'd do a little photo shoot in his honor last night.

My model wasn't entirely cooperative, but I'd say we got a few good shots.

 

That's one heck of a flash you have there, mom.

Get this hat off of me!

What part of "get this hat off of me" was unclear?

 Looking forward to Tatum's first Halloween!

Tate Floats

Well, maybe not exactly. But he does love the water! :)

Daddy wasn't feeling so hot at our last swim class, so while he's usually in the water with us this time he was able to snap a few photos from the side of the pool with his iPhone. Not the best quality ever, but look at that gorgeous chunker of a kiddo!

He's gotten so much more comfortable with the water, now he actually enjoys kicking his feet and splashing his arms and will squeal with excitement throughout our half-hour lesson. He's not even afraid to have his head under water (very briefly, of course!). His very favorite thing to do, though, is to "jump" off the side of the pool into mommy's arms. He sits on the edge and leans forward and I catch him--he thinks this is the best thing ever! Future daredevil on our hands, I tell 'ya.

By the way, these photos are online thanks to me being obscured by the water and/or Tatum! I may have lost some weight, but I'm far from ready for my swimsuit pictorial. ;)

Welcome Fall!

What says fall like a visit to the pumpkin patch? Tatum, Bruce and I headed over to a nearby farm this weekend. The plan was to pick some pumpkins, but in the end we just walked around looking at the animals (cows, goats, ponies, chickens, turkeys, peacocks and some truly adorable farm dogs--English labs with the biggest block heads you've ever seen. I'm such a sucker for a dog with a big old block head!) and watching the bigger kids play.

It was a beautiful weekend!

This morning we geared up for Halloween in Tatum's pirate sweater (not his costume, but it got us in the mood).

Hey there, daddy long-legs!

And check out the jack 'o lantern smile:

We didn't get our carving pumpkins, but we did buy a few sweet pie pumpkins to roast over the weekend. Tatum loves the pumpkin puree, and Daddy and I have enjoyed pumpkin turkey chili and tonight we'll be having creamy pumpkin soup with crusty bread and a spinach salad. Mmmmmmm. I'm excited already!

I LOVE FALL.

Oh, and I actually did manage to grab a pic of Tatum with his monkey!  The monkey-to-boy ratio is changing dramatically.  Remember when these photos used to be all monkey and a tiny bit boy?!  I'd say the boy is quickly gaining on monkey these days.