My Growing Girl

Dear Tatum,

Hi sweetie. Here is a picture from Father's Day weekend that I just love. You and I spent the better part of the two days under some huge trees seeking shade. You loved laying on the blanket and watching the leaves rustle as the wind blew. It was such a fun weekend, hot, but fun. Daddy was very happy with how we spent his first Father's Day.

You are growing as they say, like a weed. It is so amazing to watch. You are wearing 6-9 month clothing and have even worn a 12 month onsie. It was a little big, but not by much.

As for your physical and mental development, that is even more amazing. You are scooting around (backwards) on your belly and have pushed yourself up onto your knees a couple of times. You roll over constantly and have even rolled back quite a few times. Aidan's mom, Nicole, recommended buying a foam alphabet floor mat. You have definitely shown major improvement since we brought one home. You seems to provide traction allowing you to maneuver your little body around.


Your hand-eye coordination has also improved, whether you are tugging at my necklace or picking up your toys. Daddy and I are both so proud of you... our tiny little preemie that is now almost 8 months old. Where did the time go?

When we go to visit family and friends you now greet them with a smile. You are also beginning to wave bye-bye. At first it was just some slight finger movements, until this evening, you used your entire arm while smiling. You almost made Grandma Vicki and I cry when you did it. It also sounds as if you are sometimes trying to pronounce the words, "hi" and/or "bye." It catches us by surprise each time and we are unsure as to whether or not you actually said it. It just so happens that you say it at the right time. You are such a smart little girl.

You are also getting much better at staying with others. Aunt Randi and GG have said that you not crying as much as you used to. Last week when I went to pick you up, you acted as if you could care less that I was there. It took you about 20 minutes to realize that I was there. Grandma Rhonda and Grampa Dale watched you today. They had such a good time and said that you were just wonderful. Grandma Rhonda had some fun new toys for you to play with and Grandpa Dale took you for rides in the stroller around the house. I am happy that you are becoming more comfortable while I am away.

Not that you need one, but you have been given yet another nickname... "Nosie Rosie." You have to see who is talking and you have to know where everyone is at all times. You will push whoever is holding you out of the way if it helps you get a better view of the action. You are the funniest little busy body.

Yesterday I took you with to pick-up a print job and I was asked if you were my assistant. I said , "definitely!" You are so much fun to have with me as I run my errands. You like to get out of the house as well and really enjoy being outside. You are very social and love interacting with others.

I have found that bright ceiling lights make you very happy. So happy that you laugh like you are being tickled. It always seems that there is a can light directly over diaper changing stations in restrooms. At least lately there have been and they tend to amuse you to the point of laughter. And your laughter makes Mommy laugh.

Your six month picture was a hit with the family. Mommy received several thank-you emails and phone calls from almost everyone. I printed and saved all of the emails, as I always do for you. Someday you will enjoy going through them. You have brought such happiness to so many.

On Monday we had lunch with Kimmy, Nick and Ali. We decided to go Uncle Paul's and Aunt Randi's restaurant, "Chef Paul's Steak & Chophouse." Daddy even met us for lunch too. The three of you kids were given "Lil' Chef's" hats to wear and looked so darn cute. Your hat had to be custom made as the children's size hats were just too big for your little head. It was a fun afternoon with Kimmy and the kids.



This past week you have not been sleeping so well. You have been waking up just about every three hours again. We believe you might be actually teething this time. Tonight you chewed on my thumb for quite some time. I rubbed a couple of teething tablets on your gums and then you fell asleep shortly after. You have been sleeping for about an hour already. I should probably get ready for bed as well. I hope that I can get a full nights rest tonight. If not, that's okay too, I will be ready for you.

I love you so much.

Love,
Mommy

First Father's Day

To my dearest little darling,

You've added a dimension to my life that I could never had imagined. You're a VERY special little girl and your mother and I love you more than you'll ever know. I find it fantastic how Mommy has kept up with your progress with this web log and has now given me the chance to give you an update with the milestones you've made since the last entry. This past Sunday was Father's Day. It was the most spectacular day I could have ever wanted. Being a race fan, I got to spend the weekend with my two girls while visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and watching the U.S. Grand Prix. It was very hot out, but we took every precaution possible on protecting you from the sun, sound and heat so you wouldn't be our "Baked Tater". In addition to the hat, sunscreen, water misters, and umbrella, we used special ear plugs that molded to your ear and they didn't bother you one bit having them in. The look on your face when the cars went by for the first time was very memorable. I loved every minute of it!



You were on your best behavior for most of the weekend. The car ride there and while at the track you were a little angel, but we have concluded that since you now like to be into EVERYTHING that our dinners out with you have been postponed for a little while. You weren't throwing any tantrums, but you would let out your little war cry scream every so often that Mommy and I felt like we were disturbing the ones around us. It didn't bother us too much at Maggiano's on Saturday night since it was so loud in the restaurant anyway, but there will be a time when the restaurant isn't so loud. We'll need to work on your "inside voice" when you get older. Until then, I love hearing every sound you make!

My Father's Day gift from you and Mommy were two wonderfully framed pictures of you in a barrette and a little racing suit from Old Navy and a pair of casual dress shoe's I've been wanting. One picture is now sitting on my desk at work, and I just love it. Don't worry, I won't make you into any kind of tomboy, but if you show a desire for cars or racing I won't hesitate to include you. I think Mommy will keep you in enough girlie things that we won't have to worry. Just look at your shoe collection that you've outgrown already!

Thanks for making my very first Father's Day so special.

I love you so much!
Daddy

7 Month Update

Dear Tatum,

Today you are 7 months and 5 days old. You are becoming a rolling machine. Well at least from your back to your belly. You haven't quite mastered the roll from your belly to your back. Within a minute of laying you down, you will rollover to your belly. Then tonight you were able to push your chest off of the ground (which you weren't able to do yesterday so much). Daddy and I played on the floor with you tonight before you went to bed and you moved backwards about a foot and a half. You are working really hard and I can tell you are frustrated at times that you are not able to just take off. But you will get there.

The adorable monkey costume was a gift from Aunt Kelly-Mac. I played dress up with you over the weekend and discovered that it fit. Daddy was napping when I brought you downstairs to show him. When he opened his eyes you were looking down at your feet and I asked him to hold you so that I could take a picture. He said, "hold what?" When I said, "Tatum," he realized that it was you in a monkey suit. He began laughing and said, "I thought you were holding a backpack of some sort." You looked so darn cute as a little monkey girl.


You also surprised Mommy and sat on your own for the first time yesterday during a development screening. The Developmental Therapist wanted to see if you could sit on your own and you did it. Not for too long, but you did it. I asked if I could take a couple of pictures. It was so exciting. Yay Tatum! Your doctor recommended that we have you screened by the state to determine if you might require therapy to help you develop since you were born premature. Overall, the screening went well, however there are a couple of areas that they would like to evaluate further. One of which you have already conquered. On Tuesday you had not been able to push yourself up while laying on your belly and today you did it. Yes! The other area they would like to develop is your speech. You haven't consistently spoke any of your consonants and they would like to determine if you might require some speech therapy to help you do so. You have repeated "a-goo" for me maybe once, but nothing consistent. It is common for preemies to develop their speech a little later. Daddy and I feel that you are developing beautifully. You are extremely smart and have a personality very much like Mommy had when she was a little girl.

Here is a picture of you and Michael. The two of you were so cute together on Tuesday. You would both smile at each other and touch each others hands. I am so happy that the two of you will have each other to play with. I can only imagine the trouble the two of you will cause someday.

You are beginning to look more and more like Mommy. I am excited to go to Grandpa Larry's soon so that we can go through my baby albums and compare some of my pics. It is so exciting for both Mommy and Daddy to see ourselves in our baby girl. At birth you were identical to Daddy. You looked like his little clone. These days people are stunned at the likeness to Mommy. We are stopped by strangers all of the time so people can meet you. We get the usual comments: "she looks just like you," "she has so much hair," "I love her big eyes." In fact, grocery shopping was slightly difficult today due to the fact that we were stopped in every other aisle. I am not kidding. I was actually answering the phone call from grandma Vicki when a lady came over and began talking to you. You instantly began laughing and reached to feel her face. You have become the friendliest little baby. It makes me laugh, however, I really would rather not you try to touch strangers. So I apologize and pull your hand away.

On Sunday, we went "The Wells Street Art Festival" with Aunt Jamie, Uncle Mike and Michael. Again, you were trying to touch and grab people as we passed them. You were so well behaved and almost stayed awake then entire time. The ride home was a different story. We hit some traffic and you decided you wanted to eat... NOW. Mommy jumped in the backseat and Daddy pulled of the highway so that Mommy could feed you. We were back on the road in 20 minutes or so. We will chalk it up as the first of many to come as we we have plans for the three of us to go to Indianapolis this weekend for the US Grand Prix. We are prepared to make stops as needed. I'm sure you will let us know.

You are beginning to enjoy playing with toys. Until recently you didn't have too much interest in them and would toss them aside. You have enjoyed playing with peoples faces more than anything. I am excited that you are becoming very social. While at the store today we ran into an old co-worker of Mommy's that you had never met. Didn't matter... you were thrilled to see her. You were so funny and made us laugh at your excitement. Some friends of Mommy's were over last night and laughed when I told them how many people we meet when we are out. They said that I am officially a stay at home mom because I met people while in the post office and held a 30 minute conversation. I say why not? There was a line, they were nice and it made the wait a lot easier. You definitely attract a lot of attention. I find it fun and have found people to be much more friendly than ever.

This coming Sunday is Father's Day and I am so excited to give Daddy his first Father's Day gift. I have asked Daddy if he would like a chance to express his feelings and write to you on Father's Day. I thought it would be nice to have a letter from Daddy on a day that will now have a significantly different meaning to him. I am looking forward to what he will say since he loves you so much. I know you will always treasure his words.

I love you.

Love,
Mommy

Goodbye Heart Monitor

Dear Tatum,

We have quite a bit to catch up on since it has now been over a week since I last wrote. We have been busy around the house as well as out having some fun. The high point of the past week would be that you have been officially released from the heart monitor. Yes! I spoke with the doctor on Monday (6/4) and based on the last download, the doc felt you were ready. The technician came to the house on Tuesday and picked up the equipment. I thought I would be nervous without it; surprisingly, I feel more confident. We are all so excited to have you off of it. Congratulations baby girl!

Daddy and I love nothing more than to hear you laugh. It’s not always an easy task, however we have discovered that making monkey sounds can definitely get some laughs. Here is a video of Daddy imitating a monkey while you are in your Jumperoo. We were able to get a couple of laughs out of you.



As for eating solids, you have proven to be a little piggy. You started Sweet Potatoes last week and they are definitely your favorite thus far. You can eat the entire serving and have done so the last five days. I have a hard time keeping up with you, as you are ready for another spoonful as I am pulling the spoon from your mouth. You are always reaching for whatever it is I have on my plate or in my glass. As for breakfast, you have been eating Bananas. They are not exactly winning you over, so I am planning on moving onto something new tomorrow... pears. It has been exciting introducing the new foods. We are having so much fun.

I am posting a picture of your cousin Gracee to go along with a really

cute story that your Aunt Jen emailed me last week...
The other day Gracee asked her Mommy why she named her Gracee. Aunt Jen told her because she thought it was a pretty name. Gracee replied that she did not like it. Aunt Jen asked her what she would like her name to be. Gracee told her that she wanted everybody to start calling her "Tatum," because it is the most beautiful name ever! Aunt Jen explained to her that there would be two Tatum's and it might be difficult to tell which Tatum people are talking to. Gracee's solution was that we would have to call you "Baby Tatum" and she would be "Big Tatum."

So, you are now "Baby Tatum" and we must refer to Gracee from this point on as "Big Tatum." Or at least until she decides she would like her beautiful name back.

Physically you are becoming stronger each day. You have rolled over a couple more times. Last Friday you rolled form your back to your belly, looked around for about a minute and then rolled back. I was laughing so hard at the surprised look on your face. You are also trying to sit up when we have you laying down. Your Jumperoo is still your favorite toy. In fact, you are now jumping in place when we hold you in our laps, or when you are in the walker at Grandma Vicki's house. You think everything is a Jumperoo now. You'll figure it out soon.

Your speaking skills have drastically changed in the past few days. You have gone from making sounds with your voice to sounding as if you now speak your very own language. It really took me by surprise as you suddenly began carrying on a conversation with yourself as opposed to just oohing and aahing. You can go for quite some time if I do not interrupt you. I am going to get some of it on video, it just seems I am never ready when you start.

This past Sunday, June 3rd, was Mommy and Daddy's 2nd anniversary. Daddy came home on Saturday afternoon with two dozen roses in hand. They are so beautiful. Daddy and I decide that we would celebrate on Saturday night with an adult evening out. So we dropped you off at Grandma Vicki's and headed to dinner. We talked about how different our life together is now and how happy we are to have our little family. Afterwards we headed to the "Creamery" for some dessert. As we were enjoying our ice cream we watched a little girl eat her first mini ice cream cone. She was have a great time. We over heard her Mom tell some other onlookers that she just learned to walk a couple of weeks ago. We instantly thought of you and how we cannot wait to take you for your first ice cream cone. As a parent, it is the simple things that are so rewarding. Watching you enjoy your first ice cream cone will definitely be one of those moments.

Above is a picture of some of your new summer shoes. Once again, your Grandma's have been building your 6-9 month wardrobe. You are still wearing 3-6 month and 6 month sizes, but I think you could almost fit in some of the 6-9 month outfits. You are growing so fast, I hardly feel like I can keep up these days. It saddens me to begin packing up your preemie and 3 month outfits. I plan on storing the special outfits separately so you can have them one day.

Well, Mommy should go to bed soon. It is almost midnight and a Tornado Watch for our county was just announced on TV. We have had some crazy weather this summer so far, but today's 35 mph winds were exceptionally strange.

I love you.

Love,
Mommy