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....