Category: Totally Tatum

There are two things Tatum loves in this world almost as much as life itself.

Robert

and

cake.

These two combined to make a great day today. 

The best part was she got to hang with Levi and Vivi as well. (Vivian is behind with mommy Shannon)

Later? A little sand action with the birthday boy. Sand is fun no matter where you are. I say CA is much more fun, but what do I know!?

And so it goes. The toddler becomes ALMOST four which means the toddler bed can no longer exist in the un-toddler territory.

Pottery Barn Kids here I come…(Thanks to Megan and PBK and her keen eye and help!)

Toddler bed here you go….. (to a needy family, hooray!)

I surprised Tot with her new bed and bedding. The chairs, walls, and new “feel” of the room have her feeling like an almost four-year old.

It was time to take the alphabet off the wall. We made an extra “T” so now we can put “TATUM” on the wall. My artwork surrounds the new bedding which now matches quite well. It took me a while to find the right colors for her bedding to match the art I had made. I really liked the green/pink/yellow and (I wanted gray in there too) combos.

I found a great gray inboard where I can post all her little work she does.

Then I wanted to have some good reading chairs for her (one for her and one for ______ (a friend or me) Here is the gray I like. 

Pottery Barn covers once again. I had LOVE left from the lettering, and hey…it matches perfectly.

Made a collage with a great little bulletin board for pics. 

Cozy, spacious, and darn right homey.

For my Tater (almost four year old) Tot. XO

We went to the Children’s Museum last year in November, and this time, we really relished the time. Why? Because we were with friends! Cana and Ethan to be exact. Tatum still can’t reach the pedals of the little bike, but Cana had no problem pushing.

IWe had to go play in the play room of course, and here the shoes are to go. How did you guess?

Then is was off to measure some rice. This was like a 30-minute joyride for her and Ethan. 

Then, she just had to make pizza and serve anyone who would partake. 

She is a girl on a mission, man. Tatum is so focused in the kitchen; it’s hilarious!

Hot dog time with Ethan. She was in charge of the ketchup; Ethan, the mustard. 

Art room threading some puffy things with pipe cleaners

Homemade play dough. SO squoooooshy and fun.  So much fun; hard to say goodbye. She and I had no problem leaving since this was what we saw outside. 

Should I add Paw Patrol? Lightning “the” Queen trumps all the other characters for one day. Often it’s the great Spider dude, Today, it was the Turtles. Now, mind you, she has NEVER seen the Ninja Turtle shows, but apparently they are a big deal at school. So, when confronted with “which jammies do you want to pick?” at Kid to Kid, she opted for the Ninja onesie. A: it has long sleeves; B: it has footies; and C: it’s full body armored. Can’t beat them turtles!

Well, it was Spidey for a bit. The slippers even glow in the dark, seriously. I mean c’mon!!!

We went through the Lightning “the Queen” (as she says) phase of jammies for a day or so, and then…it happened. Ninja Turtle onesie.

This is the classic Tatum look after a nap or when she wants to just give you that darn look. EFFECTIVE if you ask me!? And man…is it ever. (Be strong, mom!)

Doug took this pic after coming over to put her to bed the other night. She had just awakened and was a bit disoriented!

But then, Tatum arose!

Sportin the Doug specs.

Can you just beat my little Ninja Queen of Spiderman or whatever she would call it!?

 

Something has clicked in my three-year old (almost four-year old).

You see, every time I bring Tatum to her Pre-K, she has a bit of a fit as I leave screaming, “Mommy!” Ms. Chris approached me and brought Tatum into the conversation after I picked her up last week and told Tatum that she needs to change; it hurts feelings and is hard on all involved when she screams for mommy. The next day, she said, “Bye mommy,” and ran off to play!
This was only the beginning. She is not only growing in her ability to monitor her own feelings, but she is quick to listen and obey without any controversy. I’m so used to her making things more difficult, and all of sudden, it’s all so much easier.

Case in point, in church on Sunday, she went right into her class. She asked if she could be in the four-year old class. One of the boys was crying, and she put her hand on his shoulder comforting him saying, “It’s ok; you’ll be ok.” She then rallied all the older children to comfort him too. Wow;  Mature and kind.

We’ve been playing more mature games:

Note these sticks!
Alphabet mazes:

Puppet shows: (where she was so kind to wait her turn to pet the puppet)

(band-aid is a decoration!)

Making play-doh treats.

It’s just been so fun! I am enjoying her like crazy; and I cannot imagine a more joyful time with my girl. So proud of her and proud to be her mommy.

What does Day 3 hold? Well, first, sleep. We were a bit slower getting our motors going on Day 3 only because we all could have slept longer. After we got ourselves out of the hotel, we headed to get some breakfast. Tatum got her coveted bagel and cream cheese while Doug salivated over it since he’s off gluten. He went to order his power quinoa oat thingamajig only to find out they were all out of all oats. So….coffee to power up I guess.

Ok, off to the final beach experience. We only brought the frisbee and ONE sand toy since it was kind of foggy still and we did not plan on staying long. The sand, again, interested Tot more than the frisbee, so Doug and I volleyed for about an  hour or so as Tatum continued to feed the whales; back and forth; pick up sand, dump, return. Pick up sand, dump, return. 

So kind of her to think of those whales. According to her, it was chocolate that they were receiving. Lucky whales. We had to get on the road, so we rinsed off in the water and told Tot not to fall into the sand because she would be covered in sand again. In one ear….

and out the other. My cute little sandy girl.

We returned to the hotel to get cleaned off, checked out, and headed……

to get coffee.

OK, and then off back to Phoenix.

Quick selfie at a quick stop for a quick you know because of all of our quick coffee. 

Did I say it was a piece of heaven? Well it was. Three full wonderful, glorious, beautiful days with Tatum and Doug. Oh, and the beach was phenomenal too. XOXO

Answers? You will find out as you read!

First, we had to load everything up in the wagon. Now, Tatum was most concerned that she would get a ride although she had two perfectly working feet. The key was getting the two chairs, the two umbrellas, the sand toys, the ice chest, the boogie board, and the towels all in one trip. Well, leave it to my brilliant guy to make it all work.

The wagon carried the sand toys and the Tot. We carried the chairs on our backs (the had straps); I carried the umbrellas while I rolled the ice chest, and Doug wheeled the Tot and carried the boogie board. No problem!

We made it down to the sand in one trip!! Hey!!!

Doug had to run back to the room, so, slathered in sunscreen, Tot and I got a start on the sand building. It was not hot at all, so we were very cozy on the sand. 

He returned and diligently got to work on our space. What a setup! This is luxury living at the beach for sure! Tot? Well she was very busy in the sand. Building and digging. It was riveting for her! Thanks to Doug and the variety of sand contraptions.

Now, I was ready to brave the waves!

Feels good…so ready for the board!

So much fun! Definitely was a bit cold after that wind!

What was the Tot doing? She did not even know I was gone. Her building became multiplied with Doug’s magnificent monuments!

Ok, now it was Doug’s turn to brave those waves.  Which pose you like the best?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go Doug!

He rode them all the way home just in time for lunch. Doug and I both had chairs, and Tot sat in the wagon! Perfect.

For some reason, Subway tastes better on the beach.

Ok, now it is time to get crazy. Frisbee. Time to teach Tatum how to throw it. 

This was quite hilarious. She kept throwing it the opposite direction of her aim. We ended up running after the frisbee more than Tatum! Doug and I ended up playing for quite awhile as she wanted to go back to the sand.

She told me she was feeding the whales; very sure of herself. She’d take the pail, fill it up with sand, then dump it into the water. Thereby feeding the whales! Who’da thunk!?

After a long day, we headed back to the hotel to relax. We had been running around on the beach the whole day, and we were absolutely wiped out! The bathtub, filled with sand after rinsing, was so refreshing and Doug kindly got a pic of our coziness as we sat and had a snack.

The rest of the night was Tatum going to bed, Doug and I watching O’Reilly, eating our Mexican food, and me zonking out before 9. Sorry honey.

So you found out all of the answers, and now, the final questions are, what does Day 3 hold? Stay tuned for one final installment of California Dreaming.