Oh wow!

Tatum's eight month birthday came and went in the frenzy of Obama becoming president. Andrew and I were so excited about the day, the promise of new hope, the end of the Bush era, that we let notice of our little one's eight month birthday slip by. It wasn't until I logged on the blog the follow day and saw the counter "Tatum Bell Shearer is eight months old" that I realized that I forgot. Geez - what kind of mother am I? Obviosuly one that was transformed last Tuesday by our new president and our first night out in months. So sorry babe, if it wasn't for Obama the attention would have been on you.

So, she's now eight months old and socially brilliant (if I do say so myself). Tatum's not so much a talker as a grunter and squealer. She delights mosts in the appearances of ceiling fans, palm trees, and animals. When either of our cats India or Boofy enters the room, she lights up and lets out her Tatum roar to get their attention. They in return scram. Tatum doesn't have a light touch but an intense grab that doesn't quite do it for our furry friends. We're teaching her gentle, but there is only so much an eight month old can understand. She also loves people. When we're in a store, Tatum will look around trying to make eye contact with someone, anyone. Usually her cuteness charms, but I've come to find LA as a place of a lot of cute babes and a lot of folks that seem to be over it. So when she can't land a smile, she gets a little frustrated. I must write though, most days she scores smiles and waves and sometimes even flattering compliments.

Other big news:
1) Tatum can now maneuver from her belly to her bum - from laying down to sitting up in one precise somersault accompanied with a grunt. Two weeks ago when I picked her up from day care, Cecie informed us that twice that day they left her on her stomach and found her sitting. That night, after putting Tatum to bed, she awoke as she usually does after the midnight hour for a midnight feeding. I found her sitting up in her crib, rubbing her eyes, and moaning. It was amazingly cute. It is now commonplace to find Tatum sitting up in the crib after her naps and during the night. She seems sometimes frustrated by her new ability - almost as if she's in a dream state when she props herself up and then wakes in frustration. As a result, she's learned to lay herself back down and return to sleep. Thank goodness.

2) Our girl is saying "Da, da, da". Andrew adopted a new routine a few weeks ago determined to get Tatum to say his name. When he sees Tatum in the morning he says "Tatum (pointing to her)! Dada (pointing to himself)!" In response she squeals and shuffles her Tatum two step. Every now and then you can hear Tatum repeating "Da, da, da, da." I seem to recall her saying this sometime ago, but it was never repeated and therefore I didn't record it as her first. Like when we were on vacation in NC back in December, during an afternnon walk with Mimi Tatum kept repeating "La la la la". We haven't heard it since. However, on the 16th we were hiking with friends and I could here Tatum saying "da, da, da" over and over again. Since that day, it's now apart of her everyday expression. It's more of a sound than a word, but Andrew is determined to get her to say it with the intention of meaning him, and soon enough she will.

3) And I'd also like to note that Tatum used the pincher grab for the first time on Friday. We walked up to the store where we purchased some Gerber puffed rice snacks. On the return I poured a few into my hand. To our delightful surprise Tatum picked up a single puff with her finger and thumb and popped it into her mouth. After a few moments of missing the second and third try, she leaned over and gobbled the treat out of my hand. Now it is a hilarious event to feed Tatum these puffs and watch as she tries to put them into her mouth. She has this habit of putting her thumb into her mouth instead of putting whatever it is she is holding onto; so she ends up with fists full of puff rice treats and her thumb in her mouth. Oh well.


Developmental milestones can be as much of a blessing as burden: a blessing when something new is achieved, and a burden when comparisons creeep in. It's all to easy to compare what your child is doing to another. Earlier this month I was speaking to a corps member who is a 20 year old mom to a son born five days before Tatum. I was telling her how exciting it is to see Tatum lurch forward in an attempt to crawl. She plainly tells me that her boy has been crawling for a month and says da da to his da da; he also stands against furniture on his own. So, wow - that's amazing. It's truely amazing. Amazing that any of the kids I serve or any parent I know for that matter has a child that can hit any milestone. In that moment I decided to let go - it being the naging mind of "when?" - and embrace the adventure of observing my freewheeling daughter fly her own path.

One last thing: In an attempt to document the flying times of watching our daughter grow, Andrew surprised me with a video recorder last Tuesday night. Stay tuned for fantastic footage....

New Tastes

Today's Features: Bananas served in a mesh-pop (SHE LOVED THIS) and Avacados taken at our new neighborhood fave resturant Aunty Em's Kitchen.

Cruising Around Town

On Saturday January 17th, we loaded the car with our bikes and the new kid seat and headed to Santa Monica. It was a perfect day - mid 70s, sun shining, folks skating, running, riding, playing - meanwhile the rest of the nation was suffering from freezing temperatures. So if you ever wonder "why?" we live in LA - it for days like this (and the film industry). Tatum loved the experience of whizzing by the beach scene as we rode fourteen miles along the boardwalk from Santa Monica through Venice down to Marina del Rey and back.

On Sunday, Tatum and I took our second ride and headed to the top of Ellenwood Drive where we live and rode Hill Street down 2.5 miles to the Eagle Rock Recreation Center and Park. This is a great park that includes a playground and tons of open space to play. When we arrived, my co-pilot had fallen asleep at the wheel. I decided not to push the swing set on her at this time, we'd come back tomorrow.

And come back we did. Even though Tatum fell asleep again on the way over, I was able to wake her for some fun in the park. We tried out the swing sets first. I couldn't tell if was the swinging or watching the other kids swing, but she was smiling and having fun enjoying the scene. We played for a while in the sand proving ample opportunity to explore the taste and texture. What's a visit to the park without a sand eating experience?!

Poopy Push Face

No matter what your size, pooping can be tough. Recently, with the introduction of new foods, Tatum has started to make this unique face to push out the poo. I just had to share.

A New Eating Adventure

Now that Tatum has begun the solids adventure, we thought is high time to get a high chair. Thinking back, I should have registered for one. But my reason was to avoid another piece of furniture in our cozy humble home. I began feeding Tatum in my lap or in her Bumpo chair. But day in and day out, these methods were awkward and not conducive to regular meals. So, again, we thought it was high time for a high chair. After little research we decided to kick down a few bills and purchase the ever amazing Tripp Trapp Chair by Stokke. Worth the investment, this chair is ideal for our home because it tucks right up under the table. Stokke offers additional accessories, but we decided to go bare bones. Now that we have the chair in our "dining room" I see no need to purchase anything else but the chair.

Tatum enjoys the new seat. She's now eating sweet peas, bananas, and acorn squash. Pears are on the menu this weekend. As mentioned before, when she eats, she "mmmms" while she chews. Below is a video of our eating adventures - fortunately the lighting is a bit better on this one. Bon appetite! Well, the video is not loading - so look forward to that in the future....

New Year and New Moves

Happy New Year from The Shearer Family!

On New Year's Eve Tatum surprised us by busting out a new move - the all-four rock! This is achieved by Tatum getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. According to baby books, this is the start of the crawl. We were tickled to see Tatum perform this move and tried a go at recording it. The low-lit footage appears below. Yes, Tatum's daddy is a film maker, so in no way does the below clip reflect on his abilities.