Preschool Adventures

Tatum turning two has brought many changes, and the biggest of all is her enrollment in preschool.  Tatum has been in a home day care since she was 3 months old, cared and loved for by the wonderful Salazar family.  We have greatly appreciated the security the Salazar family provided Tatum, but our social butterfly needed to spread her wings and fly into a new social situation. 

After searching for a few months, I finally looked to our neighboring city of Glendale and found Glendale Preschool and Kindergarten.  We scheduled a visit and were instantly on-board for enrollment.  They provide Tatum snacks in the morning and afternoon, a hot lunch every day, and a two hour nap.  Kids mostly play in their outdoor space, but also spend scheduled time inside reading, playing, and creating art.   The website posts all the information, so interested grandparents, I encourage you to visit the link.  Then you can know what Tatum is having for lunch everyday!

   

Tatum has her own cubbie, were kids store their backpacks.  Granted, the backpacks are mostly empty tokens of maturity; used for transporting a change of clothes, snacks, and an occasional piece of art.  But girl was I excited to purchase a backpack for Tatum.  "Back Pack" - she loves the gesture of wearing in the morning and returning with it at the end of day. 

She has done an excellent job in the transition.  Her teachers, Ms. Ingrid, Ms. Wendy, and Ms. Allison love her and said she is "just super easy.  easy to sleep, easy to eat, easy to play."   That's our girl!

Two Cool

Tatum celebrated her 2nd birthday in Princess Style!

Homeward Bound

This year for Tatum's second birthday we decided to spend it in North Carolina with our family.  Since Tatum was turning two, she had her own seat of the plane.  YAHOO!  For us parents if felt like we were rolling in first class.

We spent the first weekend at my sister's new home in Davidson.  Did you know that snuggies are great for creating magic carpet rides?  Well, there is no photo to prove it, but these cousins had a ball of a time together.

We then traveled to the coast of NC where my folks rented a house on the beach of Oak Island.  We choose Oak Island because it is near Southport where Mimi and Boo live on their boat.  GiGi (Grandma Great) came down from Michigan to celebrate this time with us and my brother's graduation from ECU with a MBA.   We enjoyed four days of relaxing on the serene coast and eating lots of Carolina grub. 

The trip ended with a party at Tatum's cousins' house in Mt. Holly.  Our niece Sophia turned 3 on May 17th, so the families came together to celebrate a royal event with a princess theme. 

Thank you Mimi and Boo and Lala A for helping us come home to celebrate!

Kitchen Wonder

Tatum's Mimi and Boo bought her a kitchen set for her 2nd birthday.  So during her nap on Mother's Day, I spent my afternoon turning this....

into this....

And she loves it.

B-boy Stance

B-boy Stance, that is what we are calling this new move by Tatum where she'll cross her arms in front of her.  There's just something about those chubby toddler arms that makes this pose adorable.  This picture was taken Mother's Day weekend as we hopped aboard a bus to grab dinner up the road.  Lot most tots I imagine, Tatum loves to identify buses shouting "BUSSSS" when one passes by.  So we treated her to a new experience of riding the bus this past weekend.