Sweet Tatum

 It's so hard for me to believe that my baby is now 18 months old!  I realize I haven't done an update on her in a while so I thought I would share a little bit about who Miss Tatum is today!  If I had to describe Tatum in one word I would probably use the word, "feisty!"  This girl knows what she wants and she will not stop until she gets it!!!  Example #1:

 This week we are at Lipscomb University for Impact with our teenagers.  We go home tomorrow morning! Tatum and Jack were actually with my parents for the first part of the week having a wonderful time!  Now, Jack is with Chris's parents and we have just had Tatum here with us.  I've enjoyed some one on one time with her but I'm missing Jack a lot!  Tonight while the teens were in worship, Tatum and I had to leave because she was getting a little restless.  The VERY hot day had turned more pleasant so we walked over to the student center and got the Impact Starbucks special of the day - a Strawberries and Creme Frapp.  Tatum usually begs me for a sip of coffee (which I DO NOT give in to....ever).  Well, tonight she just looked up at my drink and started signing, "please" over and over again so I couldn't resist.  And, then she just took over!  And, she really liked it!!!

Tatum also really likes to share.  So, after she had a few sips of yummy goodness.....she was eager to "take turns" with me.  She also has been insisting on feeding me her snacks all day today and putting HER paci in MY mouth.  Nice, huh?  She is generous and loving and likes to give hugs, high fives, fist bumps, and lots and lots of smiles!

I absolutely love it when she makes her goofy faces.  This girl has got some personality!  Here's just one example of many of the faces of Tatum:

In other news, Tatum is learning new things every day.  She continues to be really good with her sign language but isn't really saying many words.  She attempts to say a few things like "side" for outside, "mooo" for more, "boo" for book, and "Yak" for Jack.  She can make numerous different animal noises.  And, she consistently uses sign language to indicate the following words: please, shoes, thank you, book, bird, chicken, horse, dog, fish, sleepy, music, amen, and tree.  She knows a few other signs but those are the ones she uses most consistently.  She loves to wave and loves to clap her hands.  This week at Impact she has really enjoyed clapping with the audience at very appropriate times.

She seems to be getting steadier with her walking and running and is now walking up and down stairs with just a little bit of help to keep from tumbling all the way down.  She can be pretty clingy to her mommy at times especially after not seeing me for 4 nights earlier this week.  But, that's okay - I know that these days will pass.  I love to snuggle with her and cuddle close.  She loves for me to sing to her at night while she falls asleep in my arms and I could not ask for a more precious moment than the one I had with her tonight.  I was reading a few books with her before bed time and she just pushed the book away, laid her sweet little face on my shoulder and put her hand around on my back and she patted my back until she fell asleep!  It was awesome.  Being a mom is seriously the best job in the world!!!!

I know there are more things I'm leaving out about Tatum, but I'm pretty tired.  Have I ever mentioned that it can get pretty exhausting to live out of a dorm room for a week?  But, we've had an awesome week.  Our teens have learned so much and it's been great to spend time worshiping God alongside them.  Chris and I were also asked to teach a class this year at Impact so we have not taught almost the exact same class 12 times!  THAT was also exhausting!  But, it was a great privilege and we really enjoyed getting to do that together.  I am one blessed woman!!!  I hope you each have a blessed weekend full of love and adventure!