Living an Intentional Life
She is ALMOST THERE! She will be sitting up pretty soon! 🙂
The world will be a bit larger when you can see from up high; keep embracing your opportunities, and be open to all of them! Keep that joy in your heart, smile, and know that you are LOVED by God, by ME, and by your family.
One would have to wonder…..
For about a week now, Tatum is showing all the signs of teething: drooling like a fountain, grumpiness..hmph!, sucking her fist and fingers, sucking EVERYTHING…etc. In fact, in between each bite of food, she inserts her two fingers into her mouth. It takes FOOORRREEEVERRR to feed her with each bite. Spoon in, fingers in, spoon in, fingers in….
So, I revisited my old post: Teething Time, jumped on Amazon and purchased everything. I even added a 30-day free trial to PRIME so I could get 2nd day air for free. Saturday….arrival of my goodies!
I first put the teething ring into the freezer and put on her beads. According to Bouncy Baby Boutique, these teething necklaces release a succinic acid, a naturally occurring component in amber that makes it so effective. “Succinic acid is a natural pain reliever, anti-inflammatory, and a central nervous system calmer. It is so effective on babies and small children because it simultaneously eases their pain while also having a strong soothing effect on their nervous system – all with zero side effects!” They are not to be chewed but just held against her skin (via her neck).
Then I handed her Villa the Giraffe. Now, this squeaking, chewable giraffe seems to double as a Coti toy, and he got a bit confused thinking it was his. He still is struggling with this issue. Well, within 3 minutes, the squeaker stopped working as she spit up right into the hole. Hmmmm. The freezing cold teething ring froze off her little fingers and then produced a large wail. Teething tabs to the rescue but first, I gave her some Tylenol. Within one hour, I had all five goodies going!
Sunday….new girl! She is laughing, joking, attempting to talk and grabbing every toy possible, including my hair.
Coti waits…..
and waits…..
Myth? I think not. These amber beads are pretty nifty; I’ll keep em.. and Tatum too! 🙂
I am on a roll! One of the joys of my job is I get to “test” books for my curriculum. So far, I’ve read quite a few. For 8th, I’d like to add (to what they currently read) To Kill a Mockingbird, The Old Man and the Sea, and The Pearl. For 7th, I’ll add The Breadwinner, Johnny Tremain, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Stand Tall, Bad Boy, and the Story of Helen Keller.
As I read with Tatum, and hopefully modeling this obsession, mom bought her Pat the Bunny. Coti is of course taking it all in.
After this..she discovers cups! Putting one inside another is definitely a puzzle she is discovering
Maybe she will figure out how to get the bell out of the cube?
Summertime! We are one month into our grand vacation of pleasurable memories. Finally, we have settled into a routine. It looks a little bit like this:
As I enter her room around 7am, her coos are followed by flapping of her arms, as she sees me say, “Good Morning, Tater!!!” This s is followed by a “The prettiest little girl in the whole wide world; she’s the tot of my dreams she’s my Tot…” song. Thank goodness she doesn’t know I cannot sing yet. I have a fan.
What will she wear? She grabs it from her basket since she seems to want to grab everything she can. If it is not pink or flowery, the “theys” will say, “Oh…what a cute little boy!” Well, perhaps it is that she has no hair.
Breakfast! Rice, multigrain, or oatmeal with pureed pears, apples, or nanners. Can I grab that too? This is a constant theme.
Upon me giving in to her taking the spoon to suck, we read the devotions. Too bad Charles Spurgeon does not have a Baby Einstein version of his work. This was today: ”Wait awhile, and that weary head shall wear the crown of glory, and that hand of labour shall grasp the palm-branch of victory. Lament not thy troubles, but rather rejoice that ere long thou wilt be where “there shall be neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.”  In other words, have joy despite your circumstances. See? I can do this.
We then retire to her house for a game of catch. Her right (and left!) hook are powerful.  Major Leagues…. Here she comes!
Sometimes, we meet a friend for coffee which is another battle of grabbing and more grabbing of straws, napkins, my coffee(!), water bottle, etc, and I become the “pick-up artiest”. Here today, we met Bob, her twin.
Wal-Mart or some shopping palace is next, and she gets to see all the sights. Learning about low prices is just what she needs to learn right now (ha-ha)
Upon her 1:00 bottle and some puréed beans, peas, sweet taters or squash we revisit Sesame Street Old School. Again…I repeat, OLD SCHOOL> Elmo will not be coming to our house anytime soon or ever.
As she plays in her house in her room, I work in there with her. She finally takes a nap (We hope) 
only to enjoy her 4:00 bottle. Home stretch to 6:30/7 for bath and more fruit and veggies. What a day! Her 10 Little Lady bugs await to be discussed. Quack, buzz, tweet, and ribbit and of course the turtle, ladybug, caterpillar noises which I produce become the thrill of evening. Little does she know that a ladybug does not purr. (Or do they)
What a day. May angels surround her crib and may God bless her little crab butt dreams.
I have planned it well, I must say! We arrive when the music is playing, and Tatum is in AWE! She loves the music and the singing,
Then I feed her while the service begins. This takes a good 15 minutes, and then LAP TIME! She seems to keep it quiet and happy the whole time. God is good. Holy Spirit is in the air and in her 🙂
Not only am I thankful for our country, but I’m thankful for this great family of mine. I love you mom and Tatum. (and Coti!)
