Tatum's holiday favorites

Thus far include wrapping paper:

(sealed with a kiss!)

And gingersnap cookies

...that he very kindly shares.

We head to Colorado for Tatum's first Christmas later this week. I'll be counting my blessings (one here with us and three up above!) this holiday season.  This year feels very different and very special.  My heart is full with the joy of this little boy, and also with the memory of his brothers and all of the babies born too soon to families who are missing them.  My thoughts and best wishes go out to each of you this holiday season. 

Wrestling his way to 1

Before the holidays take over our lives completely, I want to get Tatum’s 11-month (!) update posted.

My heart and life are so filled up by Tatum’s existence that it’s almost inconceivable to realize that less than a year ago, he wasn’t here.  At this time last year, he was mere weeks away from being born, but he wasn’t real to me yet—not until I held him in my arms on January 10, 2010 could I fully embrace the reality of having our son here with us. 

But oh, is he ever here now!  He makes his presence known continually—Tatum isn’t really a child who sits quietly playing in the corner. Though he will sit still for someone to read him a BOOK these days! Hallelujah!  Mommy-the-bookworm was beginning to worry that her son would forever see books as objects to be tossed, skated upon, stacked, thrown down, eaten, etc.—anything BUT enjoyed for their actual contents. Over the past few weeks, however, Tatum has finally embraced stories and will ask repeatedly (by ask I mean thrust the book into my face, Sarah’s face, or daddy’s face and grunt like a monkey) for us to read to him. JOY!  I’m so utterly delighted by this development that it takes the edge off of barking my way through “Doggies, The Counting and Barking Book” for the umpteen millionth time or once again “growling like a polar bear, roaring Like a lion…”. 

 Tatum stands quite solidly on his own now. He’s taken a few steps from the couch to me or his dad, or from the coffee table to Sarah.  Just a few steps at a time and then he lunges into our arms, but it’s a start!  He doesn’t seem to be in a big hurry to do more, and that’s fine by me. He crawls at warp speed already, the idea of him actually RUNNING around our house is vaguely terrifying.

Then again, why walk or run when you have minions at your every command?  Tatum’s favorite thing to do right now is to be carried about by some willing party (mom, dad, CeCe, Sarah) as he points to his next destination. Point at the wreath in the window, and someone takes him over to touch the wreath in the window. Point at the Christmas tree, and off we go to touch the Christmas tree. Point at the back deck where the dogs are playing, and over to the back door we go to watch them roll around in the snow. He can go on like this for EVER if you let him, just pointing his way from one object of interest to the next. It’s pretty cute, but the kiddo does weight 20-some pounds, so eventually it gets a bit tiring. 

What never gets tiring is having Tatum here, watching him grow and change and develop into this verbal, funny, rough-and-tumble little guy who makes us laugh with his antics every single day. I feel humbled and so very grateful to have been given the chance to raise this amazing little being.

 So, happy 11-months Tatum!   Merry First Christmas.  I can’t believe how soon I’ll be back to post about your FIRST BIRTHDAY.  Unbelievable.  Daddy and I love you SO very much.

Let the holidays begin!

Our little town hosts an annual Candle Light Walk to usher in the holiday season. The shops around the square stay open late and get all dolled up for Christmas, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive via fire truck to light the tree in the town square, there's free hot chocolate and cookies for the kiddos and in general it's just very sweet and a lot of fun.

I forgot, however, that Santa and Mrs. Claus also sit for photos with all interested little ones! Needless to say, with this being Tatum's first holiday season we figured we'd better give it a try.

If nothing else, Tatum's pictures with Santa have some definite comedic value! Classic "first picture with Santa" moment. :)

With CeCe and Gramps shortly after the Santa trauma (see, he recovered!):

And being read "The Night Before Christmas" in the reading corner at the local cafe by the cutest little girl...she really wanted to read Tatum a story, and he sat through the entire thing!

Attack of the Tatum

Slobbery open-mouth kisses are equal only to wrestling, smacking mom in the face with a spatula and laughing maniacally, and chasing the dogs around the house.

 Our little man is developing QUITE a personality. He’s pretty much on fire around the clock. When he’s not sleeping, he’s go go going—climbing, crawling, standing and even taking a few steps from the couch to mom or dad! I wouldn’t call it officially walking just yet, more of a lunge with some momentum behind it. But goodness, does he ever get a kick out of playing and rough-housing! This one is an active, goofy, loveable, messy, fantastic BOY.

He wrestles with his monkey all the time now. He takes monkey down with flying leaps and rolls around on the ground with him—I’ve tried to get pictures of the wrestling match in action, but so far I’ve succeeded only in capturing the top of Tatum’s head or monkey’s tail. He just moves too quickly for our camera! Tatum’s dad was a fantastic wrestler in high school and college, so I’m thinking some genetics are at work here.

But don’t worry, Tate is also *very* helpful in the kitchen. One of his favorite ways to help mom is to empty out the Tupperware drawer and use the containers to slide around the kitchen, one piece of Tupperware in each hand as though they were ice skates and the tile floor were a skating rink.

Actually, sliding is probably Tatum’s all-time favorite activity. Sarah and I laugh about it, because no matter what toy or household object he finds, his first priority is to try it out on the tile floor of our kitchen and hallway and see how it slides. Here he is, sliding along on the remote control (yes, the remote control remains perhaps his favorite thing to play with—OUR remote control, mind you, not the toy version his dad got him hoping to distract him from ours! No, the Sesame Street version just can’t compete with the real deal…).

What else can I say? We’re just loving life and loving Tatum. (Actually, I do have more to say about that on my other blog…).

Tatum at 10 Months

…Or, a study in argyle.

I recently realized that I should dress Tatum in cute little sweaters and argyle vests while I still can. After all, some day in the not-too-distant future I’ll be hearing about how he’d rather wear the same Spiderman t-shirt for the fourth day in a row.  So please excuse the preppy overload in this post...if Tatum is anything like his dad, I'm sure it won't last for long. :)

Tatum, Tatum, Tatum. What can I say? That you’re even more of a joy at 10 months than you were at 9? That our lives with you get better and better with each passing day?

You have so much to say now. Not that I understand every syllable, but I generally get the gist of things from your tone. My favorite is when you raise your pointer finger high and then utter something with great importance—a fine pontificator you are, my son.

You do a lot of pointing now. You also wave good-bye and hello (sometimes! Sometimes you wave just to wave. And that’s fine, too!).

You love books. Of course you love them primarily as objects to throw around and to use as stacking blocks, but hey—we’ll get there with the good stuff that exists INSIDE the books one of these days.

You’re on the go. You love to climb, climb, climb—particularly on top of mama or daddy (“Hop on Pop” is such a fun game!).

You pull up to stand every chance you get, and you’ve balanced on your own for as long as 10 seconds at a time.

 

While you’re a very active little guy, you’re also becoming more snuggly. You’ll play hard, but then you’ll climb up in my lap and rest your head on my shoulder for a snug. I can’t tell you how this melts my heart. Daddy's, too. You’re such a sweetheart of a little boy. I hope I can still sneak some Tatum hugs when you’re 16, because now that I have them I can’t imagine going without!

Gaining on that monkey with each and every photo!