Imaginative Play at Play

One day about two months ago Tatum offered her doll her water.  That was the first time I witnesses her engage in imaginative play.  Since then, each day her relationship to her baby doll, elmo and big bird seem to grow.  Lately she feeds them snacks, invites them to lunch, and once asked that I diaper her bear. 

 Tatum brings out Elmo and two frogs to join her for snack time on the porch.

Bedtime Stories

The time has come in Tatum's life where she enjoys bed time stories. Tatum has always been a good sleeper at night and for naps; so Andrew and I never enacted a bedtime storybecause we didn't think we needed it. Tatum has a ton of books that entertain her during the day, and we often spend time together reading and exploring these books; we just did not read at night. Tatum's bedtime routine was this: change her diaper, put on her jammies, play on the bed, provide a drink of milk, brush teeth, turn on the sound machine and lullaby CD, give her kisses, put her in the crib and walk out the door. If you hate me or Tatum for how easy this is, it's fine, I totally understand. Andrew and I joked that one day Tatum would go to school and discover that other kids' parents would sing to them, rock them, and/or read stories at night; and she may in the end feel cheated.

Then Tatum took a liking to two of the books she received at Christmas Lama Lama Red Pajama and Good Night North Carolina. Given their nighttime themes, I read them to her before bed one night. And ever since that night, Tatum asks that we read these two books before bed each night. She enjoys holding one book while the other is read by momma or dadda. And you can tell by her look below, she LOVES the experience.

LaLa and A in LA

LaLa and A came to town this past weekend to get thier fill of little Tatters.  It seems that every time LaLa and A come to town it rains; fortunatley this time it only rained for one day and the rest of the visit was spent enjoying some of LA's best outdoor attractions.  On Friday we checked out the LA Zoo where we are members.  On Saturday it was to the Natural History Mueseam.  And we ended the weekend at the Aquarim of the Pacific. 

But really we did not end there.  A few more treats were riding the escalators at the Glendale Galleria and enjoying the water show while we ate pizza for dinner.

To The Snow We Go

For us in Southern California, experiencing snow involves a trip in a car up a mountain, and then and only then do you get the cold, wet, exhilarating experience of snow. Last weekend Tatum and I took an overnight trip to visit friends in Palm Springs. Our friend Sonja too was traveling to the desert and came along with us for the ride. Fortunate for me Sonja was able to offer Tatum various books and snacks during the two hour trip so that I could focus on the road. On the return we decided to venture up the Palm Springs Arial Tramway to the top of San Jacinto Mountain. It was a beautiful crisp day and the reward of snow was sweet. We borrowed a sled from a family so Tatum could have a ride. She enjoyed it, but then was over it. She wanted lunch, her blankie, and a nap. She slept on the way home, then went into her crib at 2pm and slept until 5. Whew - we sure know how to wear our kid out.

These two above shots were taken atop the mountain.

This is a view of the peak from our friends the Futterman's front lawn.  Here Tatum is quite enjoying herself by pushing around a crib.  No baby, that's not the point.  The point is in the pushing and pulling.

Birthday Text

Today is Andrew's 33rd Birthday.  Tatum gave him an unexpected gift of sleeping in late so he could too.  Below is a copy of the text I recieved from the birthday boy:

Tatum slept till 7:30, or at least that's when i saw her standing up saying "kitty, kitty!"