Learning Time w/Tatum!

So, I'm not like my brother, Carl... the editing of videos and being creative w/the computer and pictures... sooo, sorry this is a long video, but enjoy!!! It's learning time with Tatum!

Did I mention SPRING last week??? I was just kidding

Matt, Christy, and Tatum... welcome to Colorado weather... lol... Last week we were wearing shorts and capris- forget the coats and boots- watching the daffodils popping up in neighbors' yards. Today, we pulled out the snow shovel (so we could pull the car into the garage), snow boots, hats, gloves, and our thick coats! We are expected to get about 8-16 inches (maybe even 2 feet) by tomorrow morning. Oh the fun! :) This morning, Tatum, Jackers, Hunter, and I enjoyed the morning snow before the wind really picks up. The wind was already blowing, so I could only get a little of it on camera and it was before Tatum enjoyed watching me make snow angels, slide, and roll around in the snow. She also enjoyed learning to make snow balls and throw them to the dogs (or at the dogs ;) )... so they could catch them in their mouths.

Enjoy!

Ready for Spring & a new adventure...

With all of this beautiful weather, we are starting to see the beginnings of Spring all around. The lily leaves are popping up out of the ground, grass is beginning to green, birds are chirping more, and the trees are budding, ready to bloom! Ahhhh, what a beautiful time of year! Looking at the calendar, we are coming up on closing out our first year in Colorado.... what does that mean? Usually, it means it's time to move on to the next place, or at least move into a different house... not this year! :) Matt and I were discussing moving, and had a place in mind... things didn't work out, and so Matt and I consider this a new adventure... staying in the SAME house for not one, but TWO years in a row! WOW! Some of you may think... really, Christy? Well, if you know Matt and I, and think back to the point of us getting married- we have not lived in the same place for two years straight, yet. Many of you have received emails every year... here's our new address...ope! we're moving AGAIN- here's our new place... and thought that maybe, just maybe you could write it in ink... well, perhaps you can keep this one with darker writing at least... just not the ink, yet... ;)

It's hard to believe that we have been here for almost a year, and I was looking back at pictures from when we first moved out here... I can not believe how different Tatum is already! She is just soaking up everything around her- labeling EVERYTHING! She absolutely loves to go outside, and as you can see in the video, the challenge will be, not to get her to go outside and play, but to keep her in, so I can at least cook! Oh the fun! :) I will not complain, part of the reason I wanted to move here from AZ was so Tatum could be outside playing all summer.

Tatum is at the point now, where she enjoys dressing.... and undressing herself. I will oftentimes see her taking her sweats off in the living room.... and putting them back on again... it is quite humorous! One day, I went to get her from her nap and she had her sweats on, along with two onsies she had grabbed from off her dresser wrapped around her legs. She just looked up and me and grinned- so pround of herself! Shoes, well those have been an issue for a couple of months. I don't even put socks or shoes on her until we arrive to our destination. She enjoys putting her shoes on... and my shoes... and Matt's shoes... and Aunt Liz's shoes, in the house, but if they are her shoes on in the car... forget about it! It is rather fun to watch her walk around in our big shoes, and she knows whose shoes she has on- 'Daddy's shoes'. Hats are another favorite. Whether it is one of her 'sun' hats or Matt's workout hat (gross, right?) or even one of my hats, she will put it on, walk around, and smile- whether she can see or not! I often have to follow her, so she does not walk right into a table. :)

After her nap... extra clothes on

It's amazing how much better the walking has become, as now she runs when she's excited, and walks up the stairs- just holding the banister. Not only is she walking, but she has been in the water quite a few times, and seems to have taken to it well!

The end of February was a sad time for us, as we said "goodbye" to our friends next door. With a great job opportunity for the family, they moved out to Arkansas :( ... We're so happy for them, but Tatum doesn't quite understand that Addie isn't next door anymore. Yesterday, we were outside walking/playing and she kept walking her stroller with one of her stuffed animals in it up their driveway, and then walking towards the door, 'Addie', and I would have to distract her. :( Tatum says her name a lot while she is playing or as we pull into the garage- wanting to head over there. We had a great couple of days before they left- kidnapping Addie for a while. Here are some pictures of our fun:

Tatum's 'big brother', Dawson (Addie's brother)

The got a kick out of being together in the stroller! :)

Sharing the foam numbers

Peek-a-boo

This video is great... don't mind the hair- it was first thing in the morning... Also, notice the ground covering... this was the week after a week of 60's and 70's! Nice...

Already 18 months old!

Time does fly when you are having fun! And this past 18 months sure has been fun! This past week, I've spent a lot of time looking at old pictures of Tatum and just comparing her face and what she was up to in those pictures to how she is today. It's so amazing how quickly Tatum has grown and how much she is just taking in of the world right now! Each day, she learns and says so much more! She speaks in 2-3 word sentences, and sometimes 4. "I like ...." daddy, mommy, George, Chad, Jake, Bobby, Ricky, etc... it goes on and on and on. One day it was "he has a rope"- talking about Hunter while he was outside. There are many statements she makes, and she can easily (most of the time) get her point across as to what she wants or what she is doing. She is working on 'thank you' and does a pretty good job of it!

Yesterday, we were at Life Time and she and another girl were rolling/throwing a ball together, running around the couches and chairs. It's so amazing watching her interact with other kids. At this point, she is good at 'sharing' her toys. She likes to hand her toys to whoever she is playing with. We went to a 'Tornado Toddlers' class on Tuesday- AKA organized chaos, and it was fun. They just played with a ball- learning to throw and kick, but it was still fun to watch and interact!

I could go on and on about what she is up to now, but here are some pictures from yesterday. Enjoy!

Winter Fun... ???

Surprising to us, the weather here has been absolutely amazing! This winter, we have had a couple of single digit days that had led to negative evening temps, to this 70 degree day we are enjoying today! This past week of 60's has allowed us to head outside and enjoy the sunshine... soak up some Vitamin D... without having to be completely bundled up from head to toe, only to have our face freeze. We have been able to walk the dogs to the dog park, and take Tatum's dolls for walks, along with just enjoying the backyard- playing with the dogs, rocks, and Tatum's first friend- Addie... Pictures of the girls will be added later- lol... we need to take some first!

She was VERY proud of her t.p.ing skills... I think she IS related to me!

We see the mountains on our walk to the dogpark...

pictures to come from our visit to Indiana

New Surprises Everyday!!!

The past month has just been full of new surprises from Tatum. Just before Christmas, we taught her the word "please"... and since then, we constantly hear 'bite pleeeeeaase?" if we are munching on ANYTHING! So, we have learned to not eat around Tatum unless she is eating as well. I have a video of this from Christmas, so I'll upload that soon. How can you say 'no', when she is being so darn cute? (and polite) At the beginning of January, Tatum and I were heading to Indiana, so we were in her room packing. I was facing the closet, and she was over behind be near her 'glider' (rocking chair). I was in my own world figuring out what to pack and then... hmm, did I really just hear that? So, I stopped and listened- then turned around.... "ashes (asses) ashes all fall down! And plop! she would fall down! I could not stop laughing and smiling and cheering her on, so of course, she continued to do this over and over and over again. Finally, I called Matt (who was enjoying 70 degree temps in AZ for a work meeting) and made him listen, so he would believe me. And that is where the amazement really began...

Throughout this past month, she would randomly see something and call it by name... we were driving past the school and there was a flock of geese hanging out, I'm sure they were having a grand ole time, at the track- I did not point them out to her... and she pointed to them and said 'geese'... then we went for a walk- she gets to walk her dolls in the stroller down the street when it is nice.. and she pointed to the sky and said 'fly'- there was a bird flying... on the same walk we heard kids laughing and playing outside- but behind a house and she said 'kids'... heard chirping and said 'chirp chirp'... We went to the store to grab a couple of things and she saw balloons- called them balloons, the same went for bananas, which are mananas, grapes, and rice. She knows the names of most of her food, but being at the store and her pointing to them and telling me what they were just opened my eyes! It's amazing what she has picked up and how quickly! Typically, at the store, I talk to her and tell her what things are, but this was the opposite! I just let her keep telling me what things were. Another day at Target, we were getting groceries and there was another little boy who was making animal sounds, and did the coyote sound... what does Tatum do? Mocks him and does the same, and I laughed! She does the animal sounds- cow-moooo; pig- (we snort); chicken- bocbocboc; rooster- cockle; duck- quack; horse- neigh; sheep-baaaaa; coyote- awooooo; lion/tiger- roar... it was just interesting, to me, that she would recognize it in a different setting when we were shopping.

I told Matt this next story, and he said "She doesn't really surprise me anymore"... because everyday she does something so unexpected... Just this past Tuesday, she grabbed toilet paper out of the bathroom and sat outside the door tearing it up. When she was about done, I told her to throw it away in the garbage... so she takes a piece and walks to the garbage can to throw it away (she's been doing this for a few months now). I walk to the front room to check on the fish, and walk back to check on her mess, and she had carried Hunter's food dish (usually kept next to the garbage can) to her mess... she was putting all of the toilet paper in his dish- then she carried the bowl back to where it belongs, took the t.p. out, and put it into the garbage can! Instead of taking ten trips to the garbage can and back, she got herself a 'bucket', filled it, then dumped it! Amazing!

I can not get over the small, new things she does that makes her more of a little 'girl' each day. I am so grateful to Matt to allow me to stay home with her and watch our 'baby' evolve into a little 'girl'. I would not trade this time with her for anything!

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope you and your families had a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year! Our Christmas was quiet and relaxing this year. Although we did miss family, we enjoyed having our little family Christmas here in CO this year...

Christmas Eve, we put Tatum's old toys up in the loft, so she wouldn't be sidetracked ... but when she woke up she immediately saw them... "toys, toys"...those would soon be forgotten. Dad brought her downstairs, and how this girl knew what was inside the packages, no one knows... but immediately "toys, toys, toys"(as they were walking downs the stairs). Tatum was an absolute blast this year... each package had to be opened, and if she were to rip any of the paper, she had to hand one of us the small piece... no making a big mess, but nicely handing us the paper. We (Matt, Aunt Liz, and I) spent most of the morning mastering the art of taking children's toys out of their packaging... for toys that are for toddlers, they sure tie them in good with small pieces, and many of them at that! Tatum played with each of her toys before we moved on to the next package. She spent the day shopping, cooking, shooting 'hoop'(s), playing with her animal friends, and vacuuming- yes, we put her to work on Christmas day ;) ...

One part of her opening presents, can be depicted very well with some pictures, but let me tell the story... She received a "George" monkey, and as she was opening it (as I have always done with monkeys) "oh look, Tatum, it's Dad!!!"... She quickly picks this up and starts calling the monkey 'Daddy'... Aunt Liz and I find this hysterical and are laughing while Matt, on the otherhand is giving me a look that says... oh, I'll get you back for this one.... Well, Tatum didn't like the laughing too much, and well.... here she is....

I can't figure it out... is she upset that we were laughing, or because we were teasing her Dad???

Don't worry, Ron, Patti, and Dan, Matt didn't change with becoming a dad... :)