Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

One would think this adorable child would be perfect, wouldn’t one? She has the face of an angel and a smile that makes your heart flutter. 

 

However, with this adorableness comes a bit of an attitude. The fact that you don’t have to teach a child to be selfish or egocentric is woefully apparent with Tatum. And I see it more than others. Why? Because around her mommy, she exhibits all her traits..the good, bad and not so pretty. Screaming BA BA, she demands her milk no matter what you are doing.

It does not fly with me as I wait until she stops crying. She also must wait! Haha (I try.)Then, BA BA time.I am sure I am not alone when I think how will I extinguish this and turn it into polite requests with a welcomed “PLEEEEEAAASE?” Of course it did not help when Fran, one of the ladies at Temple Chai said, “She’s going to be a spitfire; you are going to have such a challenge with her!” Yes, I imagine I will butt heads with the Tot throughout her adolescence, but hearing it gave me no confidence. 

Thankfully, I know (and was told) “She is so bright! You will have to keep up with her!” Her little absorbent mind takes it all in and creates wonder in me. I would rather her be ahead of me (in every way except manipulative behaviors) and me trying to “catch up” with her than her be a bump on a log waiting for life to happen.

Her curiosity, joy of learning, and excitability is intoxicating and I only want one thing: For her to be better than me and have it better than me in every way.

 Go get ’em Tatum!

 Your life is your oyster…make the most of it and avoid the “comments.”

 

 

 

Tatum’s Growth in Interaction: “Yes, I am a sponge!”

Tatum demonstrates exacting behavior by methodically and carefully placing an item on the box (in her play area).

She sips “tea” from a toy cup and then offers me some, grasping the concept of a tea party.

She finds the purple bear when asked; she locates her drum and plays it; she deliberately shares her bear baby to kiss (for a moment); and she outfoxes Coti with a return of his ball by cagily going where he isn’t.

Yesterday she gingerly carried  a little plastic bag full of about 100 plastic lids to give to her Mommy whereupon the bag suddenly released the lids in every direction all over the kitchen floor.  She looked aghast, and covered her eyes with her hands to process her embarrassment at her catastrophe!!

Is it possible that Tatum is 15 months, 18.1 lbs, 28.5 inches and soaking up everything like a sponge? Dr. Sotelo told me she is in the 15%ile for her size, but proportionally, she is right on. Size or not, Tatum continues to amaze me daily with her learning.

She is a whiz in the kitchen as a cook and a clean freak! All I do is show her what to do with the whisk and she’s off stirring the pot. Delicately she places the pots on the stool and returns them when she is finished stirring. It is adorable how deliberate she is with each movement.

Where’s your nose? She points to her nose. Tummy? Head? Where’s the apple? Ball? Banana? Grab the drum and bring it to me….She even grabbed the “boogie rag” when her nose was running. And I cannot forget how gleefully she says, “HI!” to not only Coti, but anyone she encounters.
Her attempts to try things also mystifies me! She will try to help you put on your shoes and then put them back where they belong. All I can do is stand in awe. Awe…She even stands in AWE! Tonight she grabbed a bag of plastic cups and they accidentally fell out, about 100 of them all over the floor. Her expression was priceless; she stood there with both hands over her head; she was absolutely distressed at this matter. What do we do???? Then she attempted to even pick them up. Sharing, picking up, being kind…Is this possible?

Well, not all of it was fun and games this weekend. She had many a meltdown and those crazy molars were to blame. I finally just gave her a bit of Tylenol and some TLC. Eventually, I got her to calm down, and she was laughing again. CLAP CLAP CLAP!

 

Time is another word for choice. I see this precious commodity that we all are given in equal amounts as a difficult balancing act. We all must face this choice every day: How will I spend my minutes?

The sermon today was about looking back at our day and seeing how we spent just one of the hours this morning. Was it fruitful? Did it add to your life or detract?

Time. There are multiple cliches for this word, but the best is from Ecclesiastes 3 1-8:

A Time for Everything

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

For me, this time is a time to embrace, keep, love, and build up. No matter what, time is to be savored whether blessed or not. It is so easy to wish the time away, and sometimes I find myself doing so; “I can’t wait until Tatum…. _______ or I can’t wait until XYZ happens.” What about today? What about now? This is my biggest challenge in life; constantly planning ahead and thinking about tomorrow. I’m too much of a futurist.

So, that leads me to HOW did I spend my weekend? Saturday was Tatum’s 15 month birthday, and the TIME was savored. Friday, I picked her up and whisked her over to Melissa’s house for bonding time with her girls (and for me 🙂 Tatum plays very well with others and for that I have to thank Temple Chai and her little class. She is very kind 🙂 Of course, she still DEMANDS her baba. 

and she spills things on purpose! ( 🙂

But that is part of spending time with her; the good, bad, and messy!

Then, Saturday, we played in the kitchen with Coti. They are hilarious together as they “monkey” around! Tatum gently gives him his monkey, but usually she whips it at him. Coti does not realize his strength and can pummel her, but she seems to be a trooper about it. They chase each other around the island..around and around..and around.

We then headed to swim class, and apparently, she will graduate to Little Snapper 2 next month! She is ready, for she is almost diving! Swimming to the side almost on her own now, she easily gets out of the pool elbow elbow tummy knee knee. At the end, she dramatically jumps into my arms, laughing hysterically as she bobs up and down from the sharky raft.

Later that day, it was time to head to the park. When it is almost 80 degrees in February, you have to go to the park! The infant swings were a NO GO for T. She HATED it feeling like she was going to topple out. So, we headed for the carousel to have a looksie. She just watched it go around and around…and around, but we figured we would just do the train. She decided to steal my phone for a selfie. Darn kid….loves the iPhone. (well, I think she loves that I love it). Part of the ride entails this dark tunnel, and she loves to hear all the screaming (I think?) At least it’s not her. We four wheeled it home in her stroller and headed for TJ’s as usual to get dinner.

Sunday? It’s still happening, but suffice it to say, she is enjoying our TIME together. Now, if I could just get her to enjoy her crayons for longer than 10 seconds.

Taking In Most Everything!

Have you? What does it mean to have “fun”? When you are a kid, every question revolves around being able to answer this question: “Did you have F..U..N?” What age does that question become irrelevant? I have been schooled, and rightfully so, that having fun is a long term fallacy and that to have “fun” is a futile desire. It fades pretty quickly after the event, so instead, strive for more noble activities like reading or something enriching like that. Great point, but darn it, the fun factor has been erased from my vocabulary somehow.

Enter Tatum. Activities like placing mini pots and pans carefully on the floor and then arranging them, only to bang them later…like shaking your head, laughing and making faces…like standing on your head in a V position, like nesting cups and trying to make them fit in a new way, like pulling an obsolete dial phone and holding the receiver saying, “heeeh ro”…silly silly silly, but you’re having a BLAST!  Tatum has shown me that the smallest moments in life should be savored and enjoyed. Life gets so busy and sucks the passion out of minor events like taking an extra second and to give an eskimo kiss and laughing hysterically. It has been proven that laughing is like taking a daily vitamin; it’s healthy and good for you! Plus, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (Prov 17:22) God knows what he is talking about.

Kid or no kid, life is to be savored, soaked up and absorbed. Without making the most out of each moment and having some good ol’ fashion fun, then one is just going through the motions to make the time go by faster to get to the next “thing” which is fleeting fleeting fleeting.

I love you Tater Tot. Thank you for helping me find a laugh in so many rediscovered joys (as I stand on my head!) 🙂

 

Tater is movin and groooooovin. She’s discovered her feet were made for walking!

As she glides clumsily across the floor, Coti thinks she is ready to play MONKEY.  Unfortunately for him, Tatum is more interested in looking in the mirror and holding the comb. Maybe she’ll comb Coti! Nope…. I think she’ll just try to smooth her own lovely locks.