Great Day!

Dear Tatum,

You have been on a consistent schedule for a couple of days now and you have been extremely happy. You are napping in between feedings and seem to be much happier and more playful when you wake up. As soon as I see you begin to rub your eyes, I take you to your nursery and lay you down in your crib. You play for a couple of minutes with Mr. Panda and then you fall asleep all on your own. Your naps last for anywhere between 45 minutes to a couple of hours. You no longer like to be held when you are tired and you haven’t wanted your Binky in almost a week. In fact, the Binky makes you cry.

You also are becoming more and more playful with your hands and even grabbed a tissue from Mommy's hands. You then grabbed it with your other hand and tore it in two. You also grabbed the head of you duck rattle that hangs from your car seat handle. So I attached "Freddie the Firefly" to the handle for you to play with as well. I was excited to tell Daddy that I could hear you playing with his crinkle wings as I drove.

For the last week you have also begun to smile at your reflection in the mirror more and more. It is a lot of fun to see how happy you are to see the baby in the mirror. You are also beginning to smile at other people. You are still a bit shy, however, you are getting a little better with being around a large crowd.

Daddy and I are also preparing for your first roll from belly to back. We decided that your "tummy time" sessions will be moved to the evening when Mommy and Daddy are home together and the video camera is rolling. It is going to be such a special moment for us, we are so excited. You have worked really hard and are getting super close to the big roll over. We know you can do it and it will be an amazing moment for us as parents. You are such a strong baby girl.

Tonight you met two more of your many cousins. Your cousins Darien and Alex traveled all the way from Kentucky for a visit this week. It was a fun family reunion and you allowed many of the family members to hold you. You even talked to a few of them as they held you. Aunt Toni was thrilled that you grabbed her chin with your tiny little hand. I stayed close by and you were handed back to me the minute your bottom lip dropped. This approach seemed to work out well. You were passed back to me before you would get too upset and then we would try again once you were okay. We really seemed to get the hang of it. Yay!


(Shown in picture - Front row: Alex, Gracee and Declan - Back row: TJ, Great Grandma Patty-poo holding you, Darien, Grandma Vicki holding Michael and Nichole)

I am including this picture of your cousin Michael... also know as "Yummy". I have received a couple of requests to see more pictures from some of his fans. He is growing beautifully and has passed you up in size for now. His Mommy and Daddy are working on a website for him too. We can then add his link to your list of friends.

Tomorrow I am taking you to Grandma Rhonda's house for a couple hours so Mommy can work for a bit. Grandma Rhonda and Grandpa Dale are looking forward to spending some time with you and I am sure you will have lots of fun.

Thank you for such a great day.

I love you.

Love,
Mommy

Today's story: "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"