Spit Shine

This morning while getting our day started Tatum was drinking water. After awhile I noticed that she was slurping the water out of the cup and then letting it dribble onto her tray on her highchair. I asked her "Tatum what are you doing?" she proudly looked up at me and replied "it's clean" while rubbing her hand through the water. Nice eh?

Some other random funnies that Tatum is saying these days are "try it, I like it", as in "Tatum try it you'll like it honey" when I am trying to get her to eat. When she falls down she says "oh man" or "oppss" and she enjoys telling Normandy "no" or if she goes and gets a book off of Eric's book shelve she tell us "it's Daddy's book" and when she stands up on a chair she tells herself "sit down".

My Heart Melts

This past weekend marks the height, no pun intended, of Tatum's obsession with airplanes. For quite awhile now when an airplane can be heard overhead Tatum stops what she is doing and says "airplane"! It is really cute. Well Eric took this phase to the next level this past weekend and thought that Tatum should see some airplanes. As in he got out the movie Pearl Harbor and would forward to parts with airplanes for Tatum to see. This would then prompt Tatum to say "wow" and "ohhh".

After getting her fill of airplanes she asked Eric for his finger and walked him into the Army Room exclaiming "song, song", while pointing to the CD player. He then obliged her with some good old 1940's era jazz. She then asked for "hat, hat" to which he placed a hat upon her head. After that she asked for....what else could she want...well a baseball of course.

The two of them truly have this great bond. I melt when I see the two of them together like this.

Breaking The Silence

Hello All! I can't believe that it has been a month now from my last post. This past month has been very busy and trying for us. The busy part has just been life with Tatum, projects for work, and fun family stuff. The trying part has been dealing with Normandy, who has a very hurt back.

Back in November Normandy had apparently hurt her back somehow. We took her to the vet and it was easily healed, end of story, or so we thought. In the middle of January it appeared that she had hurt her back again...another trip to the vet. This time the medication in the shots that they gave her did not appear to work. She started to loose the ease of using her back legs. Walking was paining her and so on. We were carrying her up and down stairs and such. We got some new oral medication and it seemed to help her more. One night I accidentally gave her two pills of the wrong medication...yikes...and the vet suggested that we induce vomiting to avoid a harmful reaction. This threw her into a tailspin of reactions...vomiting more than she should have and not being able to control her bowels. It got so bad that both the vomit and bowels were tinged with blood. An emergency trip to the vet followed.

Normandy is now doing much better. We had her on kennel rest for two weeks straight. We are still limiting her as far as jumping and going up and down the stairs goes. This was an unpleasant time for Eric and I both.

We spent much time in prayer, reading about trials in the bible, and taking time off from things that we chose before God. It was eyeopening for me to see how much I chose to pick up the phone and call friends before reading my bible and spending time with God. For Eric it opened him up to being able to see how much time is spent in his hobby of all things history. We have made some adjustments in our lives and hope that in the new year ahead that we stay focused on God and what He wants for our lives.

I know that all that worry may seem silly, after all Normandy is "just" a dog. But to us she is not just a dog, but an important member of our family, a family that just wouldn't be the same with out her. The good thing that came out of it all was that Eric and I were reminded of where our hearts need to be focussed on, that we are a work in progress in God's eyes, and that He loves us beyond measure.

We are also so thankful that this month Tatum had another weight check and she weighs 19 lbs 13oz...that's almost 20 lbs. The Dr. said she was tickled pink about the weight gain and to keep up the good work. Our prayer always for Tatum is for her to have a healthy appetite for food and a hunger for God.



AMEN!

Till Next Time...

Prophetic Pose

Little did we know on Christmas when we took this picture of Tatum wearing toy glasses that it would soon become her reality. In the beginning of January we went in for Tatum's 18 month check up. Everything is going pretty good. Tatum passed the autistic screen with flying colors. The doctor even mentioned that Tatum might be "gifted". When she had her big weigh in the numbers were a little low at 19lb 1oz....but she's just a little girl. She is now 35% for height and 10% for her head. If your kids are not little anymore this all probably doesn't make and sense to you anyway. When the doctor did Tatum's eye test she said she wanted us to take her to see an eye doctor to get her eyes checked out. I really didn't think anything of it really. Eric and I both have good eye sight and don't wear glasses.

Well we went this past Tuesday and it turns out that Tatum is farsighted in one eye. She needs glasses and will wear them full time. She will probably just have to wear them until the age of 9. I will say that the news was quite shocking and I was a little sad. I just want people to see her for the beautiful little girl that she is and not the glasses. You see when we go places I often get how beautiful she is or how cute she is. (I agree whole-heartily) I just hope that the comments don't turn into "oh what cute glasses!" Now they are cute glasses, but what makes them cute is Tatum!

Just see for yourself......

She could hardly be contained!!!

What a great day we had today. The break in the cold weather offered us a much needed reason to go to the zoo today. we first went into the Desert Dome. Tatum was a bit hesitant at first. She was so quiet and just observing all that passed her line of vision. She seemed so serious while studying each animal, rock formation or plant in sight. Her most favorite part was digging in the dirt. She would pick it up sift it through her fingers. Next she would pick it up and walk about 2 feet and dump the dirt. She was so upset when it was time to move on. Can you guess who is getting a sandbox this summer?

Our next stop to us to the Aquarium. Tatum got quiet again. She just looked at the fish. We then headed to the Rain Forest and the mood immediately switched to "world look out cause here I come". Between the puddles, leaves, rocks and lights...she just couldn't contain herself...and we couldn't contain her much either.



We then headed to the Pavilion, where much to Daddy's delight, her favorite thing was the Safari Jeep. She loved being behind the wheel and "driving". When another little boy got in with her I liked how she said "I'm Tatum" and "I'm one"! When we had to pry her out of the Jeep she cried and said "Jeep Jeep, Jeep". It was heartbreaking.

Did I mention the most exciting part of the day for me? I changed her diaper before we went to the Zoo, and 4 hours later at home her diaper was still dry! I then asked her "Tatum do you need to use the potty?" I took her into the bathroom and with a big smile on her face she emptied a full bladder into her potty! WHOO HOO!

It's like this, and like that and like that and uh!

So we have a new game around here. When Tatum is up in her highchair she easily gets distracted from eating. She starts to point to objects on the counter or the refrigerator and stretches her arm out (like she is grabbing for an item) and says "that" in a really pleading voice. I then point to the objects one by one and say "this?" She will then keep saying "that" and when I finally point to the magic object "this?" she responds "THIS!" It is kind of funny. I know that I should name the objects that I am pointing to so she will name them, but she actually knows the names and says them, this is just a fun game she plays.

Well that's it for now, so jus' chill 'till the next episode :)

"Just Because"

The other day Eric came home from work, and as he came in he presented me with some brilliant red tulips. I was of course touched and asked "why the flowers honey?" and His response was "Just because. You have been doing such a great job on projects, and working hard that I just thought it would be nice." I appreciate the unexpected gesture. I like getting flowers on a day when it is least expected. I wanted to share with everyone how nice my honey is to me.