Three in Tennessee

We have always laughed so much at how silly Tatum is with her eyes. All the squinting when we ask her where her eyes are is so funny to us. Another thing she does is close her eyes when we're trying to get her to finish eating. For example, if we hold up a bite for her she closes her eyes and turns away...like if she can't see it, then it's not there. The last couple of days she has started doing that when I ask her to look at me. Usually post time-out. So, I'm trying to be serious and follow through with the discipline and she's looking away from me with her eyes, nose and lips all scrunched up. It's just about too much. :)

Today was an especially hilarious and fun Tatum day. For starters, we went to Tadpole Tales at the library. I really enjoy watching her interact with other children. She's very used to being with other kids and as social as she is, she really likes to take her time and "take it all in" when we are around a big group. It not quite shyness...just non-chattyness.

Today we sat on the big lilypads (picture giant green ottomans) and she watched and listened with anticipation as the stories were read. She even whisper-talked to me, which is one of my favorite things ever and kind of hard to explain unless we're in person. I hope to always, always remember the whisper-talking and in fact, I hope she always does it somehow.

After Tadpole Tales we headed to Chick-Fil-A with our friends. She sat in the high chair and was happy as a lark to be amongst her good friends (and ours), the Dentons. As Niki displayed some supermom characteristics by divvying out chicken nuggets and waffle fries to four kids, all the time carrying on a conversation with me, Tatum and Jonas chatted, shared some food and thankfully kept their lips to themselves today. Although it's not technically in the book, we think that food is Jonas' love language...he always, always shares with Tatum. The boy is smitten!

After the food consumption we headed to the play area. Tatum started out by kneeling down and licking the floor...she looked up at me like "that's disgusting"...umm yep, that's pretty much right. I had to shake that one off and try not to think about it. About that time a Toby Mac song came on and the dancing began. Bryce shook his little hiney and Tatum started, too. The elbow out thing just kills me. Elbow out, twisting action, some hip and hiney shaking...and some kind of spine rolling motion, too. It's GREAT! You really can't beat dancing toddlers. I love how Tatum dances! She has proven to have decent rhythm. I imagine some of that comes naturally and then Matt practicing drum beats on her tummy since she was a teeny tiny thing has probably helped a lot! :)

I have no segue for this, but just wanted to mention...I feel like Tatum has started to form sentences a little more in the last few days...."I want to _________" is a little clearer each time. :) Man, I love talking with her. I love that we know much of what she is trying to communicate. She knows how to get us to help her walk up the stairs like a big girl. She knows how to say "outside" and if we don't happen to hear her, then it's pretty obvious when she's at the back door turning the knob. This girl has got a lot to say...my ears are open, Goose! So are Daddy's! Always!

What a great day!

ETA...a few more I thought about. :)

We are continually amazed at our precious girl. She's hilarious with all of her Tatum-ese. She looks right at us and rattles off a paragraph or two and then kind of nods as if to say "know what I mean?" Sometimes we do know and other times we just kind of guess. :) But here's a list of words that she's said...some of them for months and months...here's the approximate order that she started saying them:

daddy
mommy
beagle, bagel, baggel
baby
hi
what's that?
please (pease)
all done
yabbi (unsure what this is, but now we call Tania "Aunt Yabbi")
yeah
bye
yay
*she started roaring when asked what a lion says
della
cheese
bryce
deece (thanks)
doggie
ball
chews/shoes
apple
cracker
memaw
sheezu (shih tzu)
nina (tatum)
no, no, no
guck (duck...it could be worse)
hey
Wicity (Felicity)
*the other day I asked what she should say (meaning thank you) and she roared. very funny!

I'm sure there is more...I'll have Matt look over the list. I really wish we could transcribe the Tatum-ese)...it's so stinking hilarious.

We're just wondering if Libby Lou looks more like a Shih Tzu (or Sheezu as Tatum would say) or a very tiny Alpaca?! There was some questionable haircutting at her last grooming appointment. Probably not the groomers fault as Libby had some serious tangles on her chin and face. She also acts really wild and crazy when a comb or brush is within two feet of her facial area. So, the groomer shaved her face. It's okay, it will grow back by prom.

Lauren from The Daily Times wrote a piece about Church at Swank's. Check out the article here. Check out the video here.

We're really excited about what God is doing every Sunday night at Swank's. Here are my recommendations for what you should do:

• If you eat food, go to Swank's for lunch or dinner. You'll love it!
• If you're not sure about God or you gave up on church, check out Church at Swank's. It's a place where it's okay to be unsure.
  
• If Jesus has changed your life, invite someone you know to come to Church at Swank's with you.

Church at Swank's meets every Sunday night at 7:00. Swank's is at 100 N Court Street in Maryville. For more info, go to ChurchatSwanks.com.

Tatum attended Emma's birthday party and enjoyed running around the gym at Maryville Christian School with a bunch of her friends.

After months of partial hearing loss and Teri constantly repeating herself, I got tubes put in my ears at the ENT doc. It took all of 15 minutes and I had immediate relief. It was great to hear birds chirping outside the office!

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