Tatum Bell's Blog

Shearer Sisterhood

2011-01-26T16:57:00.000-08:00

To journal the lives of the sisters Shearer, we have created a new blog. Check out Tatum and Hazel's life adventure tales at www.shearersisterhood.blogspot.com.

Big Sister Tatum

2011-01-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

We'll it's official, Tatum is a big sister to one beautiful Hazel Rae. After months of prepping her for the big day, and reading big sister books over the last few weeks, Tatum's destiny was filled on January 20th. Lala came out a few days before the birth to help learn our LA life before taking over Tatum duty for the three days Andrew and I were in the hospital. We could not have made this transition without her. We are back home now, settling into life, and introducing a new blog to follow the lives of both our girls Shearer Sisterhood. Let the journey begin!

Sleeping Beauty

2011-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

This is a collection of our sleeping beauty series of Tatum. Since moving into our new house Tatum has really enjoyed the space and freedom of her own room. As a result, naps are usually delayed by an extending period of play. Here is a photo of Tatum taken Christmas day. When we went o wake her, this is how we found her: tucked in bed with her new doll in the doll bed with all the doll's snacks and sippy cup. Tatum too stored her own sippy cup in the doll's crib.

Can you even see our cute bookworm buried in this picture? This day really tripped us out because Tatum is actually sitting on a pile of books with her head laid down on Big Bear sleeping contently with her fave pink blankie.

This final picture of our sleeping beauty is cute for no other reason than Tatum brought Big Bear into her bed for her sleeping snuggle. This is the first time we had seen this and thought it was too cute to not document.

And now a funny sleeping story. Tatum takes after her me and flips circles in the bed as she sleeps. Nine times out of ten when we check on her before we go to bed, she is sleeping on her knees in the fetal position belly down a top her blankie. Often we have to pick her up from the bottom/side/middle of the bed and place her head back on top and cover her with blankets. The other week we woke to Tatum crying loudly in the middle of the night. When I went to her room I found that she had fallen out of bed. I picked her up, put her back in bed, and cuddled with her for a few minutes. She then turned to me and said in her typical bossy tone "Go to your own bed momma." As much as I love that she needs me in the middle of the night, I love that she needs me to leave too. In the morning I asked Tatum, "How did you fall out of the bed?" She replied, "Brobee did it. Brobee pushed me." For those not with kids under the age of 5 and tuned into Nick Junior, Brobee is one of five character from the pre-school show Yo Gabba Gabba.

My Little Mother Goose

2010-12-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

Tatum sits down to talk with the geese at the LA County Arboretum. She talked and sang with them for about 5 minutes before standing up and declaring it was time to go.

A Rant and then Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes, I am cheating the date on this blog post as I do for most all of them. Today is January 10th and after being asked by almost every member of my family, I am finally updating the blog. Even though I started maternity leave over Christmas weekend, I have found my time taken up with everyday tasks which have not included blogging. So here is my morning effort to dedicate some time to catch up on the blog before our family size increases with the addition of our second daughter on January 20th and my time really is going to be dedicated elsewhere....

Ah - to have Christmas morning in our new home was a blessing. Weeks before I brought home a small Afghan Pine tree from the nursery where I work. Though it was the perfect size for our little nest, Afghans' don't produce the Christmas Tree smell. So with the help of Yankee Candle Company, we were able to pull off the scent as well. As you see, our tree is a humble tribute to our small family. Although Andrew and I have been together for 13 years this month, our ornaments are few. When we first met Andrew provided me with a moose ornament from his family ski trip in Utah that year, but as he reminds with every Christmas, I misplaced it a long, long time ago. So, with the start of our family we have the start of our tree. It will grow as we grow and become a living treasure chest of memories as the years pass by; but for now, there are a few special ornaments that keep the tree sparkling with love.

Tatum really got into the holiday spirit this year. Although the idea of receiving presents really did not set in until late Christmas morning. This I cherished for possibly the last year because it allowed the morning to be lazy and comfortable instead of a 5am frenzy of torn paper (which I expect will happen next year!). Tatum woke around 6:30am and was easily convinced to watch a Yo Gabba Gabba show and let Dada sleep 7am. When Andrew did wake, we made morning coffee, which for Tatum is chocolate milk, and sat down to our stockings and presents.


Tatum models her new dinosaur towel & princess slippers

Starting with the stockings, Tatum clued in quick that Christmas is awesome. She reveled in each and every gift, except maybe the pack of white socks I got her. Tatum played the Santa roll and delighted in picking out presents and providing them to each of us. She would say, "Momma needs a present now. Which one is for momma?" or "It's Tatum's turn. Which present is for Tatum?." Her consideration of others was apparent as she insisted on everyone having their equal turn. Part way through our morning, Tatum turned to me in her Tatum style by placing a hand on my shoulder, cocking her head to the left, and then expressed sweetly "Momma no work today!" That is right sweetheart, momma doesn't have to work today. It melted my heart.

Andrew and I each got Tatum a big gift. Yes, through nearly eight years of marriage, we keep separate bank accounts and we enjoy getting our separate gifts. It works for us. Andrew presented Tatum with a baby doll who talks and eats and plays. When asked, Tatum said her baby's name was Hazel. Hum. For those of you who didn't know, this is the name we have picked out for Tummy Nut. I presented Tatum with a scooter. Yep, she loved it.

Christmas was a special morning to share together as a family. We are starting to lay down our own Christmas traditions - like french toast made from Montrose Bakery's Cinnamon Roll Bread, which Tatum helped to make - and this makes the season all that much more magical. Next year there will be four stockings hung, and our experience of love and blessings will be that much more!

My little kitchen elf helping with breakfast

Below are some additional shots taken from our Christmas morning. For all our East Coast Family, while you enjoyed your almost white Christmas we enjoyed scooting around in the crisp 60 degree weather of Southern California. Remember, you are welcome to visit anytime!

the view from our front porch Christmas morning

Tatum cruises by our house on her new scooter

Scooting Sillies under a Camphor Tree

Safety Talk with Smiles


Late morning doings - popcorn and a viewing of Tatum's new Princess* DVD

* as much as I thought I would keep the world of princesses away from Tatum, there is no stopping their power. After flying home to NC last year to share Tatum's second birthday with her cousin Sophia for a princess party, there has been no stopping Tatum in her affinity with these Disney characters. And I too have become charmed along the way and indulged her with some princess gifts from Santa, which she loved. Really, the princess fantasy is one most every girl has, I know I still do - what is better than marrying a rich prince and living happily ever after.

Little Black Dress

2010-12-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

<> "I want my black dress!"

This hand-me-down velvet dress has become Tatum's favorite. She insists on wearing it most days with her "white tights" and "brown boots". I put these in quotations so that you can imagine a high-pitched voice in a commanding tone demand these items when getting dressed. Princesses require patience for sure, but the payoff of cuteness is worth it.

All I want for Christmas is...

2010-12-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

Tatum's preschool offered a Christmas party for families last Thursday afternoon. Each of the four classrooms offered a special holiday craft project. Tatum's room, the Bunny room, was the most popular of all, because that is the room where Santa was giving out gifts.

Tatum in her Glendale Preschool T-Shirt sitting happy on Santa's Lap

About a two weeks prior to the party, the school asked that parents provide a wrapped book for $5 or less to give to another child during Santa's visit. We totally spaced the gift exchange, so after Andrew called me at work to remind me on the last day, I stopped by the grocery store and purchased a book. Now, please note, I am not a totally space cadet parent. Actually I ordered a book online, and when it failed to come in time, I failed to remember the book exchange all together. Nevertheless, I got the book, wrapped it in green paper, and dropped in by the school before the party. Tatum saw that I provided a green present for the school. So when asked later by Santa what she wanted for Christmas, she replied simply "a green present." You got it kid, that Santa can do!

Tis the Season

2010-12-12T06:33:00.000-08:00

Tis the season indeed. We have made the monster move into our new home and could not be more thankful for the additional space, water pressure, and direct light throughout the day. Wow - what a difference these three things make on our daily life. So the holiday spirit has hit home in Montrose. Our downtown is lined with white lights throughout the main business corridor making it a sparkling tunnel of cheer as you drive down it at night. We enjoyed our first Montrose Christmas parade on December 5th. We were tipped off by our local car repair shop owner Harry, who has resided in Montrose for over 60 years, that the locals choose their spots for the parade at the beginning of the day by leaving out chairs on the sidewalk. No one will touch them, every one does it, and it guarantees a good spot. So we reserved our spot with our three camping chairs and sure enough, our spot was saved when we returned later for the parade.

Downtown also offers free carriage rides throughout the holiday season. We jumped aboard and enjoyed the travel up and down Honolulu Street while Tatum entertained us with "Jingle Bells" and her own signature classic "Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light" (I'll work to get this on film and post).

The bigger kitchen has inspired the dormant chef in me to reawaken with a new inspired need to bake and cook. Tatum is the main beneficiary of my inspiration as she has joined me in making (and eating) many Christmas cookies. We baked a whole tray of reindeer cookies for her preschool class, which she took to school to share at snack time.

Thankful for Family

2010-11-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday of mine because it was the one time of year that we are guaranteed to spend the day with family. Since moving to California eight years (8!) ago, we have spent the holiday at Andrew's cousin's home in San Diego. Mark, Jeannie, Liesel, and Max welcome us every year on this day, and we spend our time together like most families, watching football, eating, visiting, and playing guitar hero! This year Tatum got into the action.

Coming and Going - NC Holiday Trip

2010-11-22T06:41:00.000-08:00

Tatum insists on lugging her luggage through LAX

This year we headed home for our annual NC holiday trip a bit early due to the pregnancy. To prepare for the trip we packed a bag full of goodies to keep Tatum entertained and occupied - Little People Lift the Flap book, suckers, a new Yo Gabba Gabba DVD, favorite books, and the usual snacks.

Tatam made quite the impression on the jet setters that day as she paraded through the airport carrying her own luggage.

Our first stop was to see Andrew's family: Mimi and Boo, Aunt Julie, Uncle Craig, Cousin Sophia and Cousin Nicolas. Tatum LOVED playing with her cousins. It is always a special time to come together as family since we don't get to see each other but twice a year. Tatum continues to ask to play with them now that we have long returned home.

Next we headed up to Asheville to visit our friends and enjoy the beauty of the mountains. LaLa and I treated Andrew and I to a very special night out with our friends while they had a sleep over with Tatum in their hotel.

Next we drove up to Burnsville to pick up GG (Grandma Great) who were visiting my cousin Amy & Kyle and their two sons James and Henry. We were treated to a hot lunch amidst a sick and crying Tatum who developed an ear ache on the trip.

We ended the trip at Aunt Jen and Uncle Andy's house with our silly twin cousins Drew and Ethan who celebrated their 6th birthday on November 20th. GG, LaLa, A, and Uncle Jarrod were all there for the celebration.

The flight home was made bearable by Yo Gabba Gabba!

Moving on Up

2010-11-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

It is with incredible excitement that I announce that the SHEARERS ARE MOVING! For those of you who have visited our humble home and found yourself wondering where the new baby was going to go without our sanity going as well, wonder no more. Last week was filled with a lot of great fortune that resulted in a new home in Montrose (a neighborhood of Glendale located in the Verdugo Mountain foothills). If you are interested (and I know you are Mimi and LaLa), check out the video below of our new digs!

Two block north of us is the historic downtown community filled with boutique shops, yearly festivals, and weekly farmers' markets. Two blocks south is a great elementary school. Right it the middle is our new found paradise. We sign the lease on Sunday and we move in Thanksgiving weekend. Dreams do come true!

Trick or Treat

2010-10-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

Tatum the Peacock hanging with the Arboretum's Peacocks

What do you get when you cross a pea and a cock? A Peacock of course!

This year Tatum dressed as a Peacock, myself as a Pea, and Andrew as a Rooster. Unfortunately there are no pics of my sweet pea costume, but there are plenty of others to share. And just to answer your questions that i am sure you are to ask, no - i did not make Tatum's costume, but yes - i did make Andrew's. I made my costume too, but I guess you won't be able to check it out :(.

So our Halloween weekend was a whirlwind of fun festival activities. Tatum's preschool hosted a Halloween parade on Friday. That night the family dressed in costume and visited a friend's preschool carnival.

Saturday we met our fave twin toddlers Jack and Sadie at the LA Arboretum for their Ghosts and Goblins in the Garden celebration. This cute bat girl wanted her photo taken with our three kiddos.

Sunday night we took South Pasadena by storm (at least four blocks of it) and trick-or-treated. Tatum stayed away from the houses that were too scary and quickly approached the more friendly ones. Too bad I didn't have my camera on this outing, but more pics may post soon.

Today after I picked Tatum up from preschool she asked to go trick-or-treating. She'll have to wait until next year.

Singing the ABC's

2010-10-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

For weeks now Tatum has been spending her days (and nights) singing. Her favorite songs are ABCs, what we call "The Barney Song" (I love you... you love me), Twinkle Twinkle, and Baa Baa Black Sheep. This clip was taken today after her afternoon nap. Enjoy!

Camping in the OC

2010-10-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we joined our San Diego friends half-way along the coast for one-night of camping at San Onofre State Beach at San Mateo Campground. The campsite was located 1.5 mile hike from the ocean. Tatum enjoyed being carried to the beach on her dada's back as we marveled at the ocean views and open sky. San Mateo is a cool site because of it's world class surfing at nearby Trestles State Beach.

On Sunday morning when the entire campsite seemed to be asleep, we were up with Tatum and took advantage of the morning night to hike to the beach. By the time we got there the sun was up and by no means were we alone. There were already two dozen or more surfers enjoying the morning waves after a luminous full moon night. Also, to our wonder and joy, was a school of dolphins catching waves right beside the surfers. Dude, it was awesome!

and now doo-doo

2010-10-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Tatum went doo-doo in the potty this morning! We are a far way away from getting rid of diapers, but this is REALLY exciting, for all of us. Does this doo-doo make your day too?

And A New Do!

2010-10-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

The other day Tatum and I were driving home from preschool with the windows down. And I knew it was time for a haircut when she said to me "I need a hair cut" as she swiped her long bangs away from her face. Granted Tatum got this expression from Andrew who for the past month has been bugging me to get it cut. Nevertheless, it was hilarious, and it was time. So on Friday we visit the $8 hair cut shop up the road and Tatum was outfitted with a robot smock and got her hair chopped. Prior to this experience, Tatum's day care providers always gave her a hair cut, and now that she is in preschool we opted to pay to have the service done. Tatum did a fine job. We brought a book and the hair dresser (Jasmine) gave Tatum a small brush to clean the hair off of her book. This was the perfect task to keep this toddler busy as Jasmine tried to cut straight lines. Although she has a hat on, you can still get an idea of this cutie pie hair cut!

A New Ride

2010-10-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

About three weeks ago our old stroller, which I never really cared for, broke upon taking it out of the car for the farmers' market. It may have been caused by an impromptu off-roading trail ride through Deb's Park the weekend before, but whatever it was, I was thankful. It served us for Tatum's first two years, and now with a new baby on the way, it was time to take the leap and invest in a new stroller for two. I've been scoping out strollers for a long time now, which in LA is an easy thing to do. Go to the Americana or the LA Zoo and you are bound to see 100 different strollers. So I had my eye on the Joovy, and after reading a ton of reviews, decided on the Caboose Ultralight. I let Andrew pick the color (blueberry) and we ordered it the next day off of Amazon, where it was on a super sale. And let me say, it was an awesome move by me because the stroller ROCKS! Tatum enjoys the standing platform because it dubs as a scooter (she uses one foot to push the stroller along) as well as sitting in the front. It has all the bells and whistles included (the parent pouch, the car seat attachment, the snack tray, and an extended sun visor). And although it is still three months (THREE MONTHS!!!) until the new babe is here, it is super useful now. Just yesterday while we were on a play date, us two moms shared a single stroller and both the girls were able to ride comfortably. Oh, can you tell, I finally am in love. So here's a shot of Tatum in the stroller taken today while at the Arboretum.

Friends with Frances

2010-10-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Meet Jocelyn and Frances. We met these two cuties one day in May when Tatum and I decided to ride our bike to a different park. Lo and behold Tatum and Frances met on the playground that fate filled day and Jocelyn and I exchanged numbers. Since then it has been awesome to have a new friend for both Tatum and I to spend a morning or afternoon together. Yesterday we joined forces to experience Kidspace's Pumpkin Festival where there was plenty to do for the toddlers including jumpers, a petting zoo, pony rides, and, of course, pumpkins!

Transition to Toddlerhood

2010-09-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, Tatum is two and a third, so she is a toddler. She wears 2T clothes, but she is still in diapers. But the transition I am referring to here is from a baby crib to a big girl bed. Yes, that's right, Tatum now sleeps in a big girl bed. And yes, this is the best pic I could get given the excitement of the new bed and the delay time on my camera. But you get the point.

Montana Magic

2010-09-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

My dad, known to the grand kids as pop-pop, moved to Montana some five years ago to start a new life in this part of the country where the bad lands meet the prairie. Rich with American lore and ancient dinosaur artifacts, Glendive is a small town in Eastern Montana where you can find the Yellowstone River. We declined visiting pop-pop until Tatum was two and she could really enjoy the thrills of life in Montana. And by thrills I am referring to a small heard long-haired Scottish highland cows, twelve horses, two ducks and two geese, a barn cat, Rhino-rides (a four-wheel drive golf cart), and spectacular hiking trails that my dad's land offers: two square miles of beauty with the Yellowstone aligning the property at the western edge.

We greatly enjoyed the trip far away from the city and into the wildness of Montana, land of the big sky. And a big sky indeed. Tatum in particular was taken by the expanse the Montana sky offered. At night she would ask to see the moon which was visible outside our large bedroom window. I kept thinking to myself where am I raising this kid where she is now repeating and requesting to see the sky before going to bed. "I want to see sky. I want to see sky. I see the moon!"

It was a special five day vacation filled with horse back rides, hiking, sleeping, and relaxing. And Tatum can't wait to visit again.

It's a GIRL

2010-09-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

The ultrasound is in and we have the great news of sharing that we are having another little girl come January. We feel so blessed that she is growing strong and healthy. She is already letting her presence be known by moving and kicking in my tummy. On Tuesday we'll be 20 weeks along - half way to delivery date - and it leaves me in wonder and disbelief how quickly this pregnancy is passing. Unlike my pregnancy with Tatum (aka then Belly Bean), my days are already filled with the love of a child who is growing more beautiful, personable, and intelligent everyday. So it is easy to be distracted away from the miracle in my tummy (aka Tummy Nut) and be fully engaged with the toddler before me. Oh, I pray for the days to go slow so I can enjoy all these passing precious moments that make up life. Wow, what a wonderful ride this is...

Cowgirl in Training

2010-08-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

"Giddy up horsey!" and "Yee haw!" are the common cries of a two-year old cowgirl who loves riding horses.

In a few weeks we leave to visit Pop Pop (my dad) in eastern Montana where the prairie meets the Bad Lands. Pop Pop has lived in Montana for over five years now, finally completed building his house (ever nail folks, except the tile on the roof), and has a handful of ranch animals including, yes, HORSES. To prep Tatum for life on the ranch and for the sheer fun of it, we took advantage of our kid friendly city of Los Angeles and headed down to Griffith Park for pony rides. It's the best $3 bucks you'll ever spend!

We started out where Tatum felt most comfortable, the walking ring. As you can see from the pics, horses are led around a ring in a very controlled, safe ring. Tatum selected the largest pony available and was right at home sitting in the saddle.

After getting her chaps broken in, she was ready for the large ring. Here kids are divided by age and weight. The younger the child, the smaller the pony, and the slower the ride. Kids are strapped into the saddle, the pony are given a slap on the rear, and then they're off around the large loop for two enjoyable walks around. The older kids are given the thrill (or terror) of trotting along. We're a few years and pounds away from that experience, thankfully!

Beach Babes

2010-08-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Summer heat is on here in Southern California. Granted my East Coast family has been suffering through 100 degree temperatures for a while now, but we had a cool and breezy June and July that prevented any weekend trips to beach. But finally, now that we are at the August and nearing the end of Summer, the heat has finally hit. So Tatum and I packed our beach bag, put on bathing suits, and headed to Malibu this past weekend. This is why we live in LA people, if you are ever wondering - for day trips to Malibu!

Travels without Tatum

2010-08-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

August was a huge months of firsts - not for Tatum, but for me. This month I traveled on my first business trip to Sacramento for a tree conference. This three day conference counted as the first time I had ever spent a night away from Tatum. Geez! The little lady is two, and every night for the past two years she has awoken to me in the morning. During a moment of mothers' guilt I changed my three-day ticket to a two-day and ended up only spending the night in Sacramento. Which proved to be a wise choice since the conference was hosted at a university and housing was in the dorm rooms. My dreams of sleeping on six pillows and soaking in a hot tub vanished as I made my extra long twin bed and put on the case to the provided plastic pillow. I returned home the next night after Tatum had gone to bed. In the morning she awoke, called my name, and we continued on as usual for a Friday. I must say that toddlers are a bit like dogs in this respect: they miss you when you are gone and once you return they can't remember that you had left.

So, the following weekend I joined two friends of mine who I met 10 years ago during my study abroad experience to India. We traveled the coast to Big Sur and camped in the Los Padres National Forest high above the marine fog layer that is famous in Big Sur. Yes, and this trip was without Tatum and Andrew. When I was first invited to attend I kindly turned down the offer. It wasn't even in my head that I could go without my family. My friends continued to urge me, and realizing that it had been 10 years, I talked with Andrew about the trip. He quickly said, "Go, you don't even have to ask. You should go." Partnership is amazing.

The morning before I left I was helping Tatum to breakfast. She asked for dada's cereal, which I got for her and poured milk into. Tatum whined that she did not want the milk. So I got another bowl and filled it with cereal minus the milk. She continued to show dissatisfaction. I asked her what was wrong, momma had listed to Tatum that she did not want the milk so I poured her another bowl. She then turned to me and said "momma no bye bye" and crawled into my arms for a long hug. I reassured her, no matter where momma goes, I am still your momma. And momma always comes back for Tatum.

Rhonda and I near San Simeon, CA among the Elephant Seals

My Purse, I Need My Purse

2010-08-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

For Tatum's second birthday her La La gave her a princess purse. This princess purse has gone from a dismissed item in the toy box to a necessity when leaving the house. "My purse! My purse! I need my purse!" is a commonly heard cry. It is now a part of the items taken daily to preschool.

Where does her preoccupation with the purse come from? Me, I guess. Or it may be a learned behavior. Who knows. I do carry a bag. I have a work bag/purse that goes with me Monday through Thursday to work. And now that I think about it, besides my own middle school phase with Liz Claiborne purses, I didn't carry a purse per say until last year when bought one as a thirtieth birthday present to myself to use after work hours and on the weekends. And I do love it . So I totally get it. The girl needs her purse.

It has taken Tatum the course of a month or so to properly cock her shoulder to hold the purse. Ladies, you know what I am talking about, there is a manner in which one must hold their shoulder to accommodate for a purse. So after seeing her repeatedly reset the purse to her shoulder after it repeatedly falling to her elbow, she's now got it, mostly. Sometimes she'll give up and just carry it by the strap.

And what's in the purse you may ask? A plastic ball, a shoe from her baby (the other shoe is missing), a rattle toy from the toy box, and a wooden egg: the play necessities for a busy two year old!

So, a purse story...We've gotten into the habit of grabbing a vanilla cone at McDonald's on Mondays (you can't beat the $.69 price) and then playing on the slides in the play structure. This week she asked for some water. I asked another mother to keep an eye on her while I stepped away to get the water. Tatum soon was heard yelling "my purse!", grabbed her purse, and followed behind me. It made the mothers and myself laugh. The girl needs her purse.

She also fell getting out of her chair, not for the purse, but to go slide, and bloodied her lip. You can see it in the pic. You can also see her right front chipped tooth. Yep. That happened a few weeks ago getting out of the pool and not using the ladder (lesson learned). I had a hand in it, I must admit. And funny (or not so) thing is I also chipped Andrew's tooth in the first months of dating in college.

I Want Bath

2010-08-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

I never know what an evening will hold when parenting a toddler. But what I have learned is when I child asks for something, and I can reasonably accommodate their request, I do. Such is the case with the bath in the sink, which was an inspired act to play with the dishes (at least the non-breakable ones!).

Summer Time = Swimming Time

2010-08-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Swimming is my favorite part of summer, and this year Tatum is just big enough to safely enjoy the pleasures of the local public pool. The only way to enter in or out of a public pool is via the ladder (or jumping), there are no steps and the "shallow ends" starts at 3 feet. She tends to hang out on the ladder, climbing up the ladder, stepping to the side and jumping into my arms from the side.

A happy swimmer needs snacks on the return trip home!

Our first visit to the pool this summer was an experience in setting limits. A month before Tatum received a towel as a birthday gift, which she adores. We started our pool experience, as we do every time, by laying our towels out by the pool and then going over to the water and getting in. Tatum developed a pleasured habit of getting out of the pool, going to her towel, straightening it or laying down on it, then returning to the pool. At one point she insisted that I too join her on this back and forth adventure, so I did. What I realized was that she was trying to get me out of the pool so that she could get in by herself. Two is the age of fierce autonomy, and I try to support it as much as I can while remaining safe. So, as Tatum insisted through her communication that I stay out of the pool, I squatted at the water's edge and watched her go down the ladder and jump in. I must say that is quite brave, but a bad idea when you can't swim. Immediately I was in the water and picked her up and out of the water. Tatum was only under for a moment, but enough to experience that she needed her mom to swim. I held her as she cried and wiped and the water from her eyes explaining that babies need their mommas in the water so that we can keep our little ones safe. She agrees.

This happened in June, but we've continued to return to the pool at least once a week when it is hot.

Expecting Good News...

2010-06-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Our trip home in May resulted in more surprises than we could have ever asked for - on Tatum's birthday we found out that we were going to give her the best present of all, a new sibling! That is right, we are pregnant and expecting our second child in January 2011.

So Tatum was our Belly Bean, and this new little life's in utero name is Tummy Nut. We are parents who plan, so we expect to find out if Tummy Nut is a boy or girl in the next few months. We also expect to find out if it is a singleton or twin in two weeks... but we're just going to assume now there is only one. In the mean time, I thought it would be fun to post a poll on Tatum's new sibling... brother or sister?

Tatum has already taken to the idea of momma having a baby. She knows the babe is in my tummy, growing every day. At night sometimes she will lean over, pull up my shirt and kiss my belly saying "hi brother" - so yes, Tatum is thinking it's a boy; but we think sister is just too hard to say.

Preschool Adventures

2010-06-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Tatum turning two has brought many changes, and the biggest of all is her enrollment in preschool. Tatum has been in a home day care since she was 3 months old, cared and loved for by the wonderful Salazar family. We have greatly appreciated the security the Salazar family provided Tatum, but our social butterfly needed to spread her wings and fly into a new social situation.

After searching for a few months, I finally looked to our neighboring city of Glendale and found Glendale Preschool and Kindergarten. We scheduled a visit and were instantly on-board for enrollment. They provide Tatum snacks in the morning and afternoon, a hot lunch every day, and a two hour nap. Kids mostly play in their outdoor space, but also spend scheduled time inside reading, playing, and creating art. The website posts all the information, so interested grandparents, I encourage you to visit the link. Then you can know what Tatum is having for lunch everyday!

Tatum has her own cubbie, were kids store their backpacks. Granted, the backpacks are mostly empty tokens of maturity; used for transporting a change of clothes, snacks, and an occasional piece of art. But girl was I excited to purchase a backpack for Tatum. "Back Pack" - she loves the gesture of wearing in the morning and returning with it at the end of day.

She has done an excellent job in the transition. Her teachers, Ms. Ingrid, Ms. Wendy, and Ms. Allison love her and said she is "just super easy. easy to sleep, easy to eat, easy to play." That's our girl!

Two Cool

2010-06-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

Tatum celebrated her 2nd birthday in Princess Style!

Homeward Bound

2010-05-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

This year for Tatum's second birthday we decided to spend it in North Carolina with our family. Since Tatum was turning two, she had her own seat of the plane. YAHOO! For us parents if felt like we were rolling in first class.

We spent the first weekend at my sister's new home in Davidson. Did you know that snuggies are great for creating magic carpet rides? Well, there is no photo to prove it, but these cousins had a ball of a time together.

We then traveled to the coast of NC where my folks rented a house on the beach of Oak Island. We choose Oak Island because it is near Southport where Mimi and Boo live on their boat. GiGi (Grandma Great) came down from Michigan to celebrate this time with us and my brother's graduation from ECU with a MBA. We enjoyed four days of relaxing on the serene coast and eating lots of Carolina grub.

The trip ended with a party at Tatum's cousins' house in Mt. Holly. Our niece Sophia turned 3 on May 17th, so the families came together to celebrate a royal event with a princess theme.

Thank you Mimi and Boo and Lala A for helping us come home to celebrate!

Kitchen Wonder

2010-05-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Tatum's Mimi and Boo bought her a kitchen set for her 2nd birthday. So during her nap on Mother's Day, I spent my afternoon turning this....

into this....

And she loves it.

B-boy Stance

2010-05-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

B-boy Stance, that is what we are calling this new move by Tatum where she'll cross her arms in front of her. There's just something about those chubby toddler arms that makes this pose adorable. This picture was taken Mother's Day weekend as we hopped aboard a bus to grab dinner up the road. Lot most tots I imagine, Tatum loves to identify buses shouting "BUSSSS" when one passes by. So we treated her to a new experience of riding the bus this past weekend.

Descanso Gardens in April

2010-04-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Descanso Gardens is the sister gardens to LA Arboretum; at least that is what I like to refer to it. As members of the Arboretum we are able to enjoy these beautiful gardens with free admission and it is just 10 miles north from where we live. What Descanso has the Arboretum doesn’t is a train ride. We enjoyed our first train ride with Tatum there on Sunday. And choo-choos are a whole lot of fun.

tree fun

2010-04-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

Earth Day weekend was spent setting up two tree distribution for work. Tatum came along to help, and help she did. To set up the distributions where free trees are given to residents of LA, the trees have to be unloaded from the truck and displayed for adoption. Tatum greatly enjoyed the task as she helped carry the trees to the event. She would pick up the tree, holding onto the black bucket, grunt, and say "heavy, heavy, heavy!" Being a working mom has its shining moments, and this was one of them for me. Here she is pictured in the truck where she laughed as she ran around inside.

Tatum's Torments

2010-04-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

Recently Tatum came down with an eye infection. Symptom – yellow puss coming out of her tear ducts. This resulted in a two hour wait at the walk-in side of the doctor’s office and we came out with the WORST of medical treatments: an antibiotic ointment that must be applied four times a day for seven days to the lower inside lid of the eye. Tatum was out of daycare for the week. The application process was horrible and in the end all I can say is that next time I will demand eye drops (yes, this is option that I did not know at the time) and the infection is finally over. Tatum was a champ, crying intensely as we held her down to administer the medicine, and then quickly cheering up when it was over. It helped that we pretended to give the medicine to her baby first so she knew she had a friend to share the experience. And it was Tatum’s insistence that we did this saying “baby eye, baby eye”.

And right when that cleared up, Tatum was helping me cook (you know where this is going) and she suffered a second degree burn on her wrist while putting greens in a very hot pan. I know, I know, bad judgment, but it came from the good intention of her wanting to be involved. Nevertheless, the girl has a high pain tolerance. She grabbed her wrist and wined a bit and looked at me very puzzled. I quickly got a bowl of cold water and set her on the floor. She was immediately delighted to splash and play on the floor. After spilling the entire bowl of water (which ran across the room since we have a tilted old house), the greens were on simmer, and we headed to the bath where she continued in a good mood to play. We being great parents had NO first aid materials in the house. Walgreens is about two blocks away so I went and picked up some Neosporin, sterile pads, and medical tape. I returned to my happy babe and not so pleased but very helpful husband. We patched her up, gave her some Tylenol and in the morning she woke with a blistered burn. Parenting is a continual lesson. At least now we have Neosporin in the house.

Two is looking like it will be an interesting adventure. Happy 23 months Tatter Bell!

Camping at Leo Carrillo

2010-04-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

Leo Carrillo State Beach was our home for the weekend as we took our 150 sq. ft. tent out for another adventure. Leo Carrillo is located a few miles north of Malibu off the Pacific Coast Highway. Yes, Southern California living can be grand. Pete and Jesica who were married on March 17th came out for the weekend and joined us. We spent our time playing on the beach, playing cornhole (think adult bean bag toss) and eating.

Before we left the Pacific we grabbed and early lunch at Neptune's Net in Ventura County. Here you can enjoy fresh seafood fried and/or steamed to order. Yummy!

Pigtails

2010-04-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yep, the hair is finally long enough for pigtails. We have her loving Cecelia and Tia at her daycare to thank for the hairdos, because that’s not really my thing.

My Cute Bunny

2010-04-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

On the Thursday before Easter, Tatum came home from daycare looking like a bunny:

Easter weekend was celebrated at the LA Arboretum’s Beatrice Potter in the Park celebration. On Saturday we flashed our membership cards and went into the festivities to enjoy Easter egg hunts, story telling, and a farm petting area where newly born chicks and bunnies were there to touch and love.
Tatum LOVED the egg hunt. Kids were given a basket and then let out on the lawn where hundreds of eggs laid around. Toddlers are wired to put things in baskets and carry them around; and I realized this as I observed her ease and enthusiasm during the hunt.

another reason to love LA

2010-04-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

Griffith Park is the largest urban park in the country. I have the great fortune to work in a part of the park as the Urban Forestry Manager for the LA Conservation Corps where I oversee operations at a shade tree nursery. The park is also home to tons of hiking trails, the LA Zoo, Travel Town exhibiting old trains that can be explored, parks, pony rides and yes this grand wonderful Carousel. Truth be told, Tatum was not a big fan of the ride because of its speed and intensity of going up and down. Nevertheless, in momma’s arm she held on and enjoyed what she could while saying “out, out” and “bye bye”.

Carson's Baptism

2010-04-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

The below excerpt taken from Rachel Carson’s book The Sense of Wonder:

If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to be preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.

As the daughter of a Buddhist, Tatum has not had the blessing of a christening. Yet on this day, after reading Carson’s words the night before, Tatum and I came upon the displayed baptism artifact of the native peoples located today at the LA Arboretum. With the blessing of the recent rains, the baptism bowl was full, and Tatum chose to baptize herself by putting water from the bowl on her head. And in my life, Rachel Carson has great influence, and I am sure that at this moment the good fairy gave Tatum the gift of indestructible wonder.

Imaginative Play at Play

2010-03-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

One day about two months ago Tatum offered her doll her water. That was the first time I witnesses her engage in imaginative play. Since then, each day her relationship to her baby doll, elmo and big bird seem to grow. Lately she feeds them snacks, invites them to lunch, and once asked that I diaper her bear.

Tatum brings out Elmo and two frogs to join her for snack time on the porch.

Bedtime Stories

2010-03-06T12:54:00.000-08:00

The time has come in Tatum's life where she enjoys bed time stories. Tatum has always been a good sleeper at night and for naps; so Andrew and I never enacted a bedtime storybecause we didn't think we needed it. Tatum has a ton of books that entertain her during the day, and we often spend time together reading and exploring these books; we just did not read at night. Tatum's bedtime routine was this: change her diaper, put on her jammies, play on the bed, provide a drink of milk, brush teeth, turn on the sound machine and lullaby CD, give her kisses, put her in the crib and walk out the door. If you hate me or Tatum for how easy this is, it's fine, I totally understand. Andrew and I joked that one day Tatum would go to school and discover that other kids' parents would sing to them, rock them, and/or read stories at night; and she may in the end feel cheated.

Then Tatum took a liking to two of the books she received at Christmas Lama Lama Red Pajama and Good Night North Carolina. Given their nighttime themes, I read them to her before bed one night. And ever since that night, Tatum asks that we read these two books before bed each night. She enjoys holding one book while the other is read by momma or dadda. And you can tell by her look below, she LOVES the experience.

LaLa and A in LA

2010-03-02T09:40:00.001-08:00

LaLa and A came to town this past weekend to get thier fill of little Tatters. It seems that every time LaLa and A come to town it rains; fortunatley this time it only rained for one day and the rest of the visit was spent enjoying some of LA's best outdoor attractions. On Friday we checked out the LA Zoo where we are members. On Saturday it was to the Natural History Mueseam. And we ended the weekend at the Aquarim of the Pacific.

But really we did not end there. A few more treats were riding the escalators at the Glendale Galleria and enjoying the water show while we ate pizza for dinner.

To The Snow We Go

2010-02-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

For us in Southern California, experiencing snow involves a trip in a car up a mountain, and then and only then do you get the cold, wet, exhilarating experience of snow. Last weekend Tatum and I took an overnight trip to visit friends in Palm Springs. Our friend Sonja too was traveling to the desert and came along with us for the ride. Fortunate for me Sonja was able to offer Tatum various books and snacks during the two hour trip so that I could focus on the road. On the return we decided to venture up the Palm Springs Arial Tramway to the top of San Jacinto Mountain. It was a beautiful crisp day and the reward of snow was sweet. We borrowed a sled from a family so Tatum could have a ride. She enjoyed it, but then was over it. She wanted lunch, her blankie, and a nap. She slept on the way home, then went into her crib at 2pm and slept until 5. Whew - we sure know how to wear our kid out.

These two above shots were taken atop the mountain.

This is a view of the peak from our friends the Futterman's front lawn. Here Tatum is quite enjoying herself by pushing around a crib. No baby, that's not the point. The point is in the pushing and pulling.

Birthday Text

2010-02-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Today is Andrew's 33rd Birthday. Tatum gave him an unexpected gift of sleeping in late so he could too. Below is a copy of the text I recieved from the birthday boy:

Tatum slept till 7:30, or at least that's when i saw her standing up saying "kitty, kitty!"

Rainy Day Woman

2010-02-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

There is a reason why over 4 million people live in the Los Angeles Basin, while the east coast was getting smacked with a blizzard, we were enjoying 75 degrees and sunny weather. But LA does get rain, and it February is usually the wettest month. I love the rain. After living out here for seven years, rain becomes a novelty, something sort of precious that should be enjoyed to the fullest. So when Lala come to visit last week, she brought with her a rain coat for Tatum, providing the protective layer to allow her to play in the rain. And play in the rain we did.

My Little Buddha

2010-02-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

Each morning I light a lamp and offer incense on the shrine set up in our living room. This is a morning ritual to make offerings of light and love to the world and recognize the new day as one of opportunity and blessing. Afterwards I sit on my cushion, offer prayers, and sit in quite mediation for as long as the morning time and Tatum will afford, sometimes 30 seconds, sometimes fifteen minutes.

Tatum has become accustomed to this ritual and enjoys taking out a second meditation cushion for her own. She sits beside me for the prayers, and always with a smile. She may stay for a moment, a minute, or more; but she does sit. She has come to understand that this is time for mommy to sit and not to play. And this is all so precious to me, the opportunity to practice and for her to observe it and participate in her own way.

Yesterday during the super bowl Tatum grew anxious to get my attention off the game and my body off the couch. She pulled out the meditation cushions and pulled me over to sit. I explained that it was not the time for prayers and to put the cushions back. She fell to the floor in tears as only a soon-to-be-two-year-old can, she wanted it "now" - what a concept! I thought my Buddhist family would enjoy that scene as well as the pictures below:

During a recent visit by Lala, Tatum enjoyed being wrapped in Lala's shawl making her look like a little Thai nun and sitting on her cushion.

Pocket Pleasures

2010-02-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

We all can agree that baby clothes are adorable; but I've wondered about the purpose of pockets on the clothes. Seriously, why does a baby need pockets? Well, we'ver found that while pockets on a 12 month old may be decorative, to an 18 month old they become "fun"ctional.
Tatum recently discovered she had pockets on most of her pants and jackets. I showed her how small things can fit in her small pockets, and this was a great discovery. Pockets are great for storing buttons, magnets, cell phones, bouncy balls, and paper clips among other things. And storing items in a pocket gives Tatum much pleasure.

Last week as I putting Tatum's jacket on to go outside I discovered some weird plastic toy in her pocket. I asked Andrew about it, and he said that she's been coming home with stuff in her pockets from daycare. Let's hope this doesn't continue through the teenage years.

My little Mother Goose

2010-01-29T10:08:00.000-08:00

Tatum sits down with the geese at the LA County Arboretum. You should have heard this girl chat it up with her feathered friends for about 10 minutes. They seemed to enjoy her company.

Tatum Bell finally Sheared!

2010-01-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

Tatum Bell recieved her first hair cut. Check out the bangs!

And She's Off

2010-01-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

The boob that is. It's official, Tatum is no longer a breastfed kid. Most of you reading this are probably checking out the ticker at the top and thinking Tatum is 19 months, why is she still on your breast anyways? Maybe not. Andrew was thinking it, as I have been since she turned one and I started the weaning process. But honestly, looking back, I didn't so much wean as simply stop. So here we are, seven months later, and we, Tatum and me, are officially separated by bodily fluids, except for my wet kisses.

For those that read this blog regularly, I posted some time ago about going off the pump and onto the formula. That was when Tatum was about 10 months old and I reduced our feedings together to before bed and in the morning. The before bed feeding was dropped one random night when Tatum was 14 months old. Andrew was out of town, and I decided to get Tatum in her nighties in the living room instead of the bedroom to break up the routine. When I set her down in her crib for the night, she gave me a questioning look, then took her blankie and went to sleep. Just like that, the feeding was gone.

But, ah, the morning feeding, that's the feeding that gave me an extra 15 minutes in the bed during the 6am hour. She is in the room with us, so I wake when she does. Tatum is my alarm clock. The morning feeding is my snooze. Nevertheless, the morning feeding was dropped this past Tuesday when Tatum slept in and I needed to leave the house to get to work. So I left her sleeping and went to work. Andrew said she woke up, said "Momma?" and went on her merry way to eat her breakfast yogurt. The next morning I got her up, we went straight for the yogurt, and she was happy. So that's it, we're done; and I have yogurt to thank for making it so easy.

Another chapter ends in our life as mother and child. It's bittersweet for me: sweet that she growing more independent and bitter that she's growing more independent. Being a lover of ritual I thought I would somehow observe the last feeding in some sort of way. But the experience ended without knowing it would. And such is life. Whooosh, there it goes.

The New in the New Year

2010-01-11T15:41:00.000-08:00

Oh 2010 - you've already brought to my face so many grins caused by that crazy silly girl named Tatum Bell.

As you've seen, Tatum was on Santa's nice list and received a few fun and practical gifts for Christmas including a baby, a baby stroller, and a potty. Now I know it's too soon to start potty training (or is it?); but it was a huge, wrapped gift under the tree. So the potty, like the baby and stroller, are for fun and amusement. Tatum is hilarious as she asks for toilet paper and sits on the toilet practicing.

She continues to love and be awed by dogs. Her favorite is a dog named Max. This shot is from Christmas Day.

Her vocabulary continues to grow as she adds new words: milk, kitty, baby, Audry (daycare friend), Ailer (daycare friend), Tootsie (daycare dog), and a slew of Spanish words that I don't know. Yep, my daughter speaks Spanish, but we don't. So Tia and Ceci from daycare keep us informed of her new speaking developments. Know when I write that Tatum is speaking, it is mostly words that only her parents, or daycare, understand. So that is why I am at a complete loss for the Spanish words.

Tatum's favorite thing in the world is YOGURT. The girl wakes up and goes to the fridge asking for it. When she comes home, she walks to the fridge and asks for it. It is a most delicious treat. In the Tibetan culture it is a sacred food and there is a three day performance arts festival to celebrate the importance of yogurt to the Tibetans. So she knows what's up and we make her a bowl and let her enjoy feeding herself. Tatum does not like to have any help when eating. Except at the end of the meal when she needs help to scrape off the yogurt off her chin and onto the spoon for another bite. And yes, sometimes two spoons are preferred. Tatum is a true believer that because she has two hands, food or a utensil should be in both. So snacks are always given in twos, one for each hand. For the two bowls pictured here, one is yogurt, the other apple sauce.

And India, our cat, has become more and more tolerant of Tatum's generous displays of affection.

Walking into a New Decade

2010-01-04T09:53:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from the Shearer Family!

We hope you walk into the new decade with laughter, love and a good pair of boots!

Holiday Card 2009 - we couldn't get the Christmas cards out soon enough, so we opted for this New Year message.

Tatum is on the Nice List

2009-12-18T10:27:00.001-08:00

Although she doesn't look thrilled to be sitting on Santa's lap, Tatum is still on Santa's Nice list.

Home for the Holidays

2009-12-17T09:08:00.000-08:00

Snacks = Happy Traveler

Tatum enjoys her first Bojangles Biscut, welcome to the taste of the south!

The Shearers boarded another trans-continental flight to visit family and friends for an early holiday celebration in North Carolina. It has become a tradition to provide Tatum a photo album at the start of each new airplane journey. The album is loaded with pictures of loved ones for her to check out as we travel. This in addition to picture board books and TONS of snacks is what helps us survive long flights with an 18-month old.

We spent 10-days total in NC - three nights at the Harris Home (Andrew's sister) in Charlotte; three nights at the Shoemakers in Asheville; and three nights with the Littles (Meghan's sister) in Charlotte. It was a perfect bookend trip with family each weekend and friends in the middle.

The Harris Home started with the adventure of making gingerbread houses at a Christmas Party. Each child got the cook's ware and pre-made house. There were tons of candies for the kids to choose from to create their unique house. Tatum is still a bit young to really participate, but she ate her share of our golden graham shingles.

Nicolas (4 y.o) and Sophia (2.5 y.o) had a blast with their cousin Tatum. The kids spent their days following each other around, playing in the new tents, taking a bath, and dressing up for the panther's game. It was a great time because there was so much laughter and play between the kids.

Next we headed to Asheville, where we spent three nights with our friends Brian and Nicole. Tatum was the only kid in site, so she took advantage of the cold rain-less moments and played outside. Her favorite is playing in the car and pushing all the buttons. Mom treated herself to some new boots, and Tatum just had to try them on.

While in Asheville, we took a morning drive to Burnsville to visit my cousin Amy and her two sons James and Henry. We were treated to delicious bakery treats and homemade soup for lunch. Tatum shared some Spanish language with James and requested "aqua" at lunch. (Nicolas and Sophia too picked up "aqua").

Our last stop on the road was my sister Jen's house. Her twin boys Ethan and Drew enjoyed playing with Lala's rollers and putting them in Tatum's hair. During the rainy days we took the opportunity to visit Santa at the local mall.

Tatum picked up three new words on the trip: Choo-choo (we played train at Julie's house), ham (that's right, this kid loves ham; she's her father's daughter), and snacks (surprised? no).

On our return, we had time in the Charlotte airport before our flight. Charlotte has a great food/shopping/rest area in the center of the terminals where there is an open bar with a man playing piano. Tatum loves music, and loves to dance; so she was thrilled to be able to dance to the piano man during our wait. This delighted the musician as well as passer-byes. Tatum was given a dollar tip from a woman who's day was made by the little two foot dancer. We gave the tip to the piano man.

And thanks to Direct TV at our seats on the return flight, we made it home safely and sanely; Andrew was able to watch football and Tatum tuned in and out of the baby channel.

18 Months

2009-11-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

Today is Tatum's 18 month birthday. She has a laundry list of accomplishments in the last six months, and as a proud momma I'll name a few:

walking up and down stairs without holding a hand

sliding down the slide without assistance

saying more and more words like dog, up, down, out, bye, orange, egg, eye (while sticking her finger in your eye), and ball

finding mom and dad's shoes and bringing them to us when she wants to go "out"

finding her own shoes when asked "where are your shoes"

discovering her belly button and other's belly buttons

putting puzzle pieces back in the right place

Her laughter remains vibrate and her health, so far, is solid. We are so blessed to have such a darling and sometimes demanding daughter. Happy 18 months baby.

New Photos on Flickr

2009-11-17T11:56:00.001-08:00

Check them out using the link to the left (or upper corner of the blog).

Halloween Revisited

2009-11-17T11:31:00.001-08:00

And by revisited I mean that we stuck to the same Scooby Doo crew costumes as last year. Hey, they fit, and since I hand-dyed, hand-sewed Tatum's costume last year, it's best she gets two years out of it. And you must admit, Thelma, Shaggy and Scooby are a pretty cute group. Our friend Sonja invited us to a family friendly party in Pasadena where Tatum had her first chance to walk the block and get candy for her parents. Yes, we are that family, having our 18 month old hold out her bag so her folks can enjoy candy later that night.

Tatum and I went to the LA Arboretum in the morning so mom could study trees. To our delight the Arboretum was sponsoring a Halloween event for kids. Tatum was a bit small, but we still took pictures and had fun playing with the balloon and seeing kids in costume.

Adventures in Self Feeding

2009-11-16T10:23:00.001-08:00

Wow - this is what bibs were made for! There ended up being more squash soup in the bib than Tatum's belly.

The harvest season of fall has taken effect on Tatum - she now wants to conduct her own food harvest. As seen above, Tatum prefers to eat dinner herself, risking food loss to clothes stains. Her wrist turns need perfecting, as she tends to turn the whole spoon upside down as she inserts it into her mouth. But we've got plenty of time for that.

Her place is now set with two utensils, one for mom and one for Tatum.

The Only Pumpkin that Giggles

2009-10-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

You may remember from last year, or not, that Tatum's daycare loves to play dress up. Yesterday while I was in a meeting I got an email titled "The Only Pumpkin That Giggles" and opened it up to find these:

Special Guests and Blessings

2009-10-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Thrangu Rinpoche visited Eagle Rock to teach at the Shambhala Meditation Center. To make lunch easy and comfortable I was asked to host Rinpoche and his retinue of five on Saturday and Sunday. Below is a picture of the lunch. Chinese on Saturday and Pizza on Sunday.

Rinpoche gave Tatum a blessing in which he presented her with a protection cord.

Since this was their down time away from the teachings, I choose not to take too many pictures and allow them the space to enjoy their lunch.

Blankies and Belly Buttons

2009-10-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

Tatum's two new favorite items: Belly Buttons and her Blankie. Well, her blanket has always been a fave item, but now it comes out of the crib with her in the morning and periodically throughout the day goes on the hunt for it.

And Belly Buttons - how hysterical it is for her to discover that both her mom and dad have them hiding under their shirts with almost matching freckles near by. She enjoys this discovery each night as we put her to bed. Immediately after getting dressed is her cue to look and find.

Now we can ask "Tatum, where is your belly button?" and she lifts up her shirt to show us. I love it.

New Camera - Tatum's Blog is Back

2009-10-07T13:18:00.001-07:00

I imagine this is how you all have been feeling with the black out on the blog, "Why won't you just give it to me!" Well, we're happy to say that we bit the bullet and purchased a new camera during our monthly Costco run last weekend. It no longer made sense to us to wait to buy a camera. Tatum changes daily, and these moments need capturing. The faithful visitors of this blog deserve attention, and that I promise to give you, soon. For now, I'll keep you wondering...

Update from the front lines: Camera down

2009-09-15T15:33:00.001-07:00

In case you thought perhaps the recent fires of LA burnt through our electrical connection leaving us without internet access to update the blog; no, the camera is bust. We traveled far and wide to North Carolina this summer and locally to the beaches and parks of LA, but have little to show other than our ticket stubs and gas receipts. We do have some movie footage, but expect that another time. In an effort to not disappoint by continuing to let the blog go untouched, I thought I'd take a little time from work to let you know we are still here. There's just no photos to show it.

Quickly, because I am at work, here are some recent fun Tatum times:

"Hi" - now think of a the highest, sweetest voice saying that word and you've just heard (in your head) Tatum saying "Hi". She now enjoys waking up and saying "Hi", walking into the room and saying "Hi" and meeting folks on the street and saying "Hi".

The kitchen sink as the new tasting room: the other day Tatum really wanted to be apart of dinner making, saying "up" as she held up her arms while standing at my feet. i lifted her up, and then into the kitchen sink where she played with tupperware and asked for food samples. She asked for the onion, and being a true believer of discovery, i gave her a thick slice. she bit in and said "mmm" - yeah, she's got crazy taste buds.

We installed a slide in the back yard. The slide is the last piece of play land. She loves to crawl up the slide (with adult help of course) and come, well of course, sliding down. I found the slide for $8 off of Craig's List, sawed off the legs, and installed it on the second terrace so she can slide down to the first. It's awesome.

ONE NAP - that's right. I should set aside an entire post on the sleep transitions, but most likely I won't.

Tatum Trauma to Momma - Tatum likes to fall. Know when I say fall this is a typical Tatum dance at night time where she likes to stand up, or sit up on the bed, and fall over backwards. She thinks it's hilarious and it started around 8 months. We too think its hilarious, as does any witness to the performance, but if you don't move fast enough, she may land on your face, which is what happened to me. Last Thursday when putting Tatum down she fell onto my face and busted my bottom lip a bit. On Friday night she fell again on my face and busted my nose. So, yes, I've learned my lesson, or position rather, so I think.

Okay, back to work.

Tatter Tantrums

2009-08-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

Tatter Tantrums - n. used to define the display of emotions Tatum Bell feels when she does not get what she wants when she wants it, most often brought on during times of teething pain, hunger, and/or sleepiness.

Tatter Tantrums happen like this: Tatum walks to the pantry and pulls out a treat. Mom takes the treat out of her hand and puts it back in the pantry. Tatum begins to cry, lays belly-down on the floor, cries more, then soothes herself with her thumb. Or they could happen like this: we are walking around the neighborhood hand in hand, Tatum approaches the grouchy neighbor's yard and pulls to walk up his sidewalk and front steps, mom pulls her back for fear of a shotgun (not really but still) explaining that we don't live there and can't play on the steps, Tatum wails, and falls belly-down on the ground.

We are certain this has to do with teething, and not my parenting! We noticed an increased fussiness in Tatum last week and sure enough four more buds are coming through to compliment her two top and two bottom teeth. It's extremely helpful to see the teeth piercing through and point to the reason for all the fuss; but it makes my heart crawl knowing she's experiencing pain and there's little I can do to alleve it.

Summer Shots

2009-07-23T08:21:00.001-07:00

We have a new summer routine, I ride as fast and safely as I can to pick up Tatum from day care on the bike. As expected, I always have cool "aqua" (yes, she is saying aqua now) and snacks. The first day I went to pick her up on the bike I quickly realized that we needed to add a front basket to the bike to carry my work things and her day care things. So off we road to our local bike shop to add the trusty well-used front basket. It took a while for the installation to happen, so Tatum roamed (ran) the open rows of the bike store. At first the service guys were a little apprehensive about her frolicking near bikes, but she soon won them over with her crack up laughs and giggles. Because really, now that she walks there's no way to keep her in place let alone in my arms. One bike guy engaged her by playing peek-a-boo throughout the store. It won't be long before she's on her own two wheels (with training wheels of course).

Oh yes, Tatum's new found love. She opens her drawers, rummages through her clothes, selects a garment, and puts it on her head. She may play peek-a-boo with the shirt/pants/cover-up or she just may sling it over her shoulder and continue playing around the house. She finds it hilarious, and frankly, so do we.

MMMMM - Watermelon. Tatam may only have four teeth in her little head, but two front top teeth and two front bottom teeth are all you need to enjoy the pleasures of cold watermelon on a hot summer day. MMMMM!

Walk This Way

2009-07-16T13:31:00.001-07:00

Our little girl is now on her own two feet, taking on the world one laugh and step at a time.

Andrew compiled this quick video showing Tatum's first trans-house walk. It happened Thursday morning after I left for work. Andrew was so excited and proud that he immediately posted the video and sent me the link. It made an otherwise cruddy day at work shine. I promise this clip will bring a smile to your face.

Summer Fun

2009-07-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

With the temperatures in the 90s, summer has finally hit Southern California. Tatum wakes up from her heat induced marthon 2-3 hour afternoon naps with her head wet from sweat. We've created a ritual of water fun to keep us cool - sink baths, spray bottles and the kiddie pool out back. And yes, we bought an AC unit for the bedroom to keep the babe from having heat stroke.

There's been plenty of parties to keep us busy on the social scene, a scene Tatum loves. Above is a picture from a friend's one-year old party where Tatum and Mauve are both chatting and texting each other.

Eagle Rock, our LA neighborhood, offers a summer concert series. We joined the Cohens on Sara's birthday to celebrate with live music, a picnic dinner, and fun. At the end of the concert Tatum performed a headstand, a new move. She revelled in delight at the world upside down. And for us, we revelled in witnessing Tatum figure out something new and different with her body.

June in Review

2009-07-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

Wow - what a month. So busy in fact that there was little time for blogging. We had a ton of visitors: Mimi and Boo (Andrew's folks), Aunt Bobby and Uncle Dick (Andrew's aunt and uncle), Michelle and Lindsay (Andrew's cousins), Rhonda (Meg's friend), and Thomas (former MiniVoid bandmate) and his girlfriend Lisa. Not to mention we took a camping trip, attended two weddings, celebrated Father's Day, and had lots of happy hour Fridays at our favorite local burger joint the Oinkster.

Tatum started walking, still not so much on her own, but she's up and around with two handy assistants (mom and dad). This past weekend we walked all the way up to the Tasty Freeze to enjoy a soft serve cone on a hot June day. Tatum walked the entire way there; making three stops to rest. How cute is that - she rests. She'll plop down for a few moments and then raise her hands to helped along again. The walker toy came in the mail; but she is yet to become a huge fan.

Tatum Talks! Since our girl in being raised in Southern California, we are taking bets on what her first language will be: English or Spanish. So far, it seems like Spanish is taking the lead. The other day we picked Tatum up from day care to find out that she now says "Gracias." And sure enough, she does. Thank you is in her vocabulary too, along with mama (FINALLY!).

She's beginning to repeat words at random moments as well. The other day we gave her an Obama button (with the pin removed) to play with. She enjoys taking the button along with beer bottle caps and putting them into and taking them out of a jar. Andrew showed her the button, read it out loud, and Tatum repeated "Obama." Gracias Obama - what more does a girl need to say!

Tatum's temperate is changing too. Can the terrible twos start at thirteen months? I know all moms go through this, but now is our time in witnessing our precious, curious child throw fits. And i do mean throw - she'll throw sippy cups, food, books, even herself (in full splay on the floor) - when the mood is right, or wrong for that matter. A child's emotions are so raw and real; and when she feels upset, you know it, you see it. The fits don't last long, and aren't out of the ordinary for the stage of life, but it's definitely a different stage.

At the same time, her interactions are more intended. Toys that have sat untouched in the corner waiting for her development to ripen are now in full play: the stacking stars, the what's inside box, the singing bear. She is mastering motor skills and learning to dance along the way.

So thus, our June in Review.

Shearer Fun Camping

2009-06-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

Oh it's a bit cold - but we're content as seals in San Simeon.

Ah - another Shearer camping adventure! We packed up momma's new car with the new family tent and our camping supplies and headed up the coast to San Simeon State Park, just north of Morro Bay. For those not familiar with the California Coast, San Simeon is considered "Central Coast" and features rolling hills and pine bluffs that drop into the blue Pacific. It's awesome.

After a 4.5 hour drive we reached the campground and set out to out site#65, which ended up being in the middle of a group of 40-something men obviously having a guys weekend. No thanks. We asked for a different site and set out again through the winding roads of the campground to find ourselves at site #111, featuring a tiny sloped site where our giant tent could only fit on the parking spot. A few sites down were a bunch of 20-somethings bumping the dance music out of the back of a pick up and throwing horseshoes, fun, but not for us. So again we asked for another site and given #11 on the upper loop, PERFECT:

Tatum loved that we had two parking curbs on site to walk up and over, up and over. I've written about it before, this girl is obsessed with stepping.

We enjoyed ourselves, especially after 7pm when Tatum went down for the night and we relaxed into our happy hour reading books, sipping cocktails, and watching the night come in. Tatum had a bit of a hard time sleeping since she was fighting a constant cough that would awake her. It seems that each time we're camping, she's suffering from a cold/runny nose/cough. But the camping must go on, so her immunity is challenged (or perhaps strengthened).

On Saturday we checked out the elephant seals that nest about 12 miles up the coast from San Simeon. The seals didn't move fast enough for Tatum, or perhaps it was the absence of legs and fur that just didn't appeal to her, but she didn't care for them. Andrew and I were entralled observing the seals as pairs of males battled, others laid asleep, and others slowly came in and out of the ocean. When she'd scream in frustration after we viewed the seals for too long, we'd hand her a few rocks or hit the ground for a walk around the area. Tatum can pass loads of time by sitting, collecting rocks, trying to fit as many as possible in one hand, passing the rocks over to us then asking for them back, stacking the rocks, placing the rocks on other rocks, and so on. Thankfully there were lots of rocks around to rely on.

Later we headed down to the beach. The weather was too cool to go swimming, in fact we didn't bring our suits because the forecast was for 55 degree weather. But it seemed to warm up to about 70 and other folks took the sunshine as the cue to go swimming. We rolled up our pants and took to the waves. Tatum was enthralled with the ocean. She took off directly for the ocean and was thrilled to have waves crash on her feet. We walked in and out of waves for a long time as she demanded (yes, and I mean demanded) for the waves to crash and run up over her toes and feet. She would fuss at the ocean if the wave did not reach far enough up shore to touch her. When a large wave would crash I'd sweep Tatum up and run back as to not drench ourselves. She laughed in excitement at the thrill. Soaked, we returned to camp for a warm dinner and our warm pajamas.

We hit the road early on Sunday to return to LA and unload. As we went to bed that night both Andrew and I noticed the absence of the crashing waves of the ocean that lulled us to sleep over the weekend. Tatum slept like a baby should and her coughing improved. For more photos of the trip, check out our Flickr pictures.

She's Walking!

2009-06-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

Tatum took her first solo steps last week as we were playing on the floor. She stood up from her play table, looked at me, grinned her silly smile, and took three steps before diving into my arms in laughter. She's as proud of herself as we are.

She prefers to walk hand in hand, using both hands for support. If you offer her one hand, she stands with the other extended, moving her fingers asking for the other. With that assistance she'll walk just about anywhere, but definitely prefers walking up and down (and up and down and up and down) steps. Maybe it's because we lack stairs in our house that she becomes so enamored with them in the outside world. Who knows, but its really quite funny, and can be scary. When no steps are around, she entertains herself on the curb. With traffic looming by, this is not our favorite place to play.

So the journey continues. Two weeks have passed since her first steps, and her cautious nature has kept her from taking any more steps alone. So we practice each evening with Tatum walking her few steps between Andrew and I. She gets so excited with the play that she ends up falling down in laughter after each step.

In an attempt to help build her strength and confidence, we've ordered a push toy that will arrive in the mail next week. Let's hope she digs it.

One Year Check Up

2009-06-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

Tatum on her first birthday in a sweater knitted by her Great Grandmother Long in England.

This morning Tatum and I went in for her one year check up. And the results are:
22 lbs., 29" long, head circumference of 18 3/4 inches, and a total champ for taking four shots in the leg. Blueberries were our cure for the pain, that and a little Tylenol.

Video Post

2009-05-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

I finally posted video from Mother's Day - scroll down to the Mother's Day Post to see it. Enjoy!

Tatum's Birthday Sand Celebration

2009-05-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! TATUM IS ONE! To celebrate her first year of life we invited friends over to play in the sand box, eat yummy "kid friendly" snacks, and enjoy the spring day. We decorated the back yard using First Birthday lanterns that I scored for free at a yard sale (actually the same yard sale is where I got the top I'm wearing at the party). I got sand crazy and purchased sand pails and shovels and decorated them with the kids' names.

We baked a banana birthday cake and presented it to Tatum - who had no idea what to do with it. We helped feed her, and she yummed her way through a bite or too. Next year we'll try carrot cake.

Tatum was presented with lots of generous gifts including a swing for the backyard, a pool, books, a baby doll, puzzles, a puppet, an activity station, building blocks, clothes and lots more. Tatum was so pooped by 3:30 that she crashed out before our last guests arrived. So Tatum missed out on the pinata, but the other tykes sure enjoyed it.

We are so thankful to have such great friends to celebrate with, and only wished that our family could be there as well! A special thanks to Sara for her decorating help and princess bedazzling of the crown; to Rhonda for helping prep all the food and providing an extra set of eyes and hands on Tatum; and finally to my dear husband who put on his bbq best and did a bang up job on the grill.

For more pictures of the party, visit Tatum's Flickr Photos and click on the set First Birthday - or view other sets too.

Sand Box Action

2009-05-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I worked with our duplex neighbors to build a small raised garden bed in our front yard. Seeing the simple design of screwing four boards together to make a box, I knew my next project - a backyard sand box.

Tatum, like all little folks, loves to play in the sand. We have parks close to us, but none within walking distance. We have the beach, but that takes the day and loads of energy to get to. So why not create it at home.

Here's what I started with: 4 4' boards, 8 screws, 8 redwood stakes, blue spray paint, and loads of sand.
In less in over an hour we had this:
Tatum loved it. Immediately she situated herself near the edge so she could begin emptying the sandbox, handful by handful, of its sand. All momma's hard work! The following day we invited Jack and Sadie over to play in the box and test capacity. Three fit fine, and there's room for more. Molly got some great pics which I'll get from her to post. Andrew caught the live action on video, so maybe soon that will post too.

The sand box will be a hit this coming weekend when we host Tatum's first birthday: Sand and Sea Celebration. More to come on that later.

Momma's First Mother's Day

2009-05-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

This year was a truly special Mother's Day as it was my first time ever celebrating as a mother myself. Tatum and I started the weekend by climbling Echo Mountian and enjoyed the 6 mile hike that took us above the clouds of LA's morning fog - making it seem like we were all that was in the world. On Saturday afternoon we explored the Huntington Gardens and enjoyed the good Southern California weather.

Andrew was out of town visiting with friends in North Carolina - to his defense, he scheduled the trip long before he or I knew it was mother's day weekend. To make up for it, Andrew crafted a joyous video of Tatum that celebrated me as her mom - what a guy! He re-edited the video to remove the mushy message he had filmed at the beginning, but we have the rest to share with you:

Thank you Tatum for making me a mother.

The above photo was taken at Sara & Mitch's Mother's Day Brunch.

Tatum's Due Date - Last Year

2009-05-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, one year ago this was the day Belly Bean was predicted to make her descent into the world and be named Tatum Bell. One year ago today I was on day three of my sixteen week maternity leave. Forty pounds heavier than I am now, I sat waiting - waiting for some sign that Belly Bean was coming. I consulted the stars, strings, cards and coins, all of which assured me she was coming; but there were no real signs to support my claims. No false labor, no braxton hicks, no bloody signs. Nothing but kicks of contentment from the inside.

Girl, I had my plans... plans of the perfect labor, the early birthday (my original predication was April 25th), the perfect birth. But Belly bean had other plans - like a twelve day extended incubation period. Those final days of pregnancy were filled with wonder (wondering - when is she coming, not wonder awe), deep (as well as shallow) reflection, and prayer. As each day ended I crawled into bed for another good night's sleep (fortunately I was still sleeping well), and I slowly surrendered my expectations of birth.

Those twelve days were precious to me. It allowed reality to settle in to my grandiose expectations of childbirth. As the sun rose each new day, beyond the due date that is, it shed light into my soul and mind that no matter how hard I tried, I was not in complete control of this birth.

When I was eight months pregnant you could not have talked to me about the idea of a cesarean birth - for my choosing was a natural labor, vaginal birth, all with the help and support of my loving husband and caring doula. Oh yes, and the trained doctor.

Looking back, it was my sister who as OB/GYN and mother of twin boys born by cesarean gave me the perspective on cesarean births that I was unwilling to even discuss previously. During an ice cream visit by the Little Family the weekend of my due date (the initial intention being that I would be home with my newborn by now for the boys and Jen and Andy to see), Jen tried to dispel my stubbornness of considering a cesarean birth. She said, "Just ask the boys how they were born." Turning to Drew, then 3 1/2 years old, she asked "Drew, how were you born?" "I was inside my momma's tummy. I unzipped her zipper so I could get a light. It was too dark to read." Jen proudly turned to me and said what would later become my ultimate words of refuge, "Meghan, just let Tatum unzip the zipper." At 41 going on 42 weeks, there was nothing left for Tatum to gain by remaining inside, yet there was everything to loose.

I convinced my doctor to give me the weekend for my body to jump start into labor. She agreed pending a visit to the triage labor and delivery ward to monitor Tatum internally and make sure she was still thriving. And thriving she was. We were released on Friday afternoon to return home and made an appointment to visit the doctor the following Monday. Throughout the weekend I continued my normal routine of doing and trying everything in my power to progress into labor: I walked, received acupuncture, added balsamic vinegar to everything, squatted, and slept. Finally my body began contracting during the evening hours and throughout the night. I was so excited to actually feel something. Timing contractions, I called my doula who said they were good signs, but not THE sign. The contractions stopped in the early morning and then would start again at night.

Finally Monday morning, the contractions stayed through the day. Andrew and I joyfully packed for the hospital and kept our 2pm appointment with Dr. Shaw. During the exam she confirmed that my cervix was at 2cm and admitted us to the hospital (no matter what, we were going to be admitted to the hospital that day for the time had come for Tatum to be born, it was just a matter of how).

So, long (24 hours story) short, we labored naturally through the evening, into the night, into the morning. After watching the full moon pass through the sky of LA and the sun come up again shining it's light on another morning with Tatum still inside I said enough. I took an epidural at 7am at 7cm (that's right, only 5 cm through the night). At 8am my cervix was no bigger, and the doctor gave me my options: 1) pitocin or 2) cesarean. I took a deep breath, looked at the rising sun, and said "unzip the zipper, let's deliver this baby." And so the birth story goes....

Now here we are almost a year later. Tatum doesn't know heads from tales when it comes to how she was born into this world, and I no longer care for the result is the same - a baby is born. And now our baby is weighing in at over 20 lbs and is about to celebrate her first year of life. Wow, how the days and months pass quickly. When you begin witnessing life as a mother it seems that time passes much quicker than before. Yet the days themselves are filled with so much more love, intense joy, and rich laughter.

Tatum, we are so thankful you made it into this world healthy and happy; and we're excited to see you turn one!

Family Fun in Arizona

2009-04-22T15:23:00.001-07:00

On April 19th my step brother Jay married in Arizona. We packed the subaru on Thursday night and headed out through the desert early Friday morning with Phoenix on our minds. My sister Jen had the rad idea of renting a home instead of staying in a hotel. We all know that with kids, you put them down in a hotel room and your options are to hang out in the bathroom or lobby. This place offered a home away from home at less than the cost of a hotel. The house had five bedrooms, for the Littles, the Shearers, and the Longs, living room, full kitchen, pool with a kid play area, and outdoor grill. It was a sweet - it became our home for the weekend and provided us the calm and laid back space we all needed to feel on vacation and content.

Aunt Jen and Tatum have matching suits - random fun!! The boys chilling poolside.

Tatum yums on yogurt for the first time - check out her bed head!

We had everything we needed at the house, except sushi. My dad lives on the range in Montana, so when he comes to the city he's ready for good sushi. Jay works at the best sushi joint in Phoenix, Ra! So we enjoyed a family meal and Tatum cracked us all up with her sticky rice face.

Jay's wedding was on a Sunday morning followed by a brunch and dance party. It was a beautiful day and more beautiful was the love that Jay and Laura share. It was fun to celebrate on the dance floor afterwards. Tatum got friendly with Evie, Jay's brother's daughter who is five days older than Tatum. So cute.

Mojave Moon and More

2009-04-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

This shot was taken at the LA Zoo Bunny Extravaganza. She's not the most excited bunny in the patch.

During Easter weekend we packed the wagon and headed out on another Shearer Adventure - this time to join some friends in the Mojave Desert for some Easter fun. Tatum didn't find any Easter Eggs, but she sure loved finding desert rocks and licking the sandy dust right off of them.

MMMM - nutrients from the soil do a body good. As you can see it was a dusty scene, but full of new friends for conversation, open space for kite flying, and enough room to set up our new 170 square foot tent!

That's our red tent with the grey roof. It's big enough to set up the pack and play - which is the essential key element for Tatum to rest well during our big camping adventures like this one. The tent's main room actually has enough space for two pack and plays - so this tent will serve for years and years to come.

The night was filled with music, dancing, star gazing (including an awesome telescope glimpse of Saturn and her rings and moons), and of course eating. Tatum missed out on the night scene, as a baby should. In the morning we woke early, because Tatum always does, and took to the hills for a small hike after breakfast. It was a chilly morning and the walk must of been a cozy one for Tatum because she fell asleep in the pack and stayed asleep until after we were done packing up the tent and car. See the fleece pink hat and stripped legs - that's our sleepy silly!

It was a memorable full moon night in the Mojave.

If you're happy and you know it...

2009-04-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

CLAP YOUR HANDS!!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, Tatum is clapping. You want proof do you - well I invite you to visit our home and play and see for yourself because photo evidence of this is harder than capturing a shooting star.

With enough requests, perhaps Tatum's folks can post video - but that too is a rare clip...

April Weekend Picnic

2009-04-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

The Shearers spent the first weekend of April becoming members and exploring the LA Arboretum. We packed the car for a picnic and headed out to Arcadia. Tatum enjoyed the day because the Arboretum holds the two things she loves most - Palm Trees and Birds! We've determined this fact by the squeals and smiles she puts out when she sees them.

You like the matching hats for mom and babe?!

Tatum's Teeth Buds

2009-04-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this isn't the best picture of the two budding top teeth in Tatum's mouth, but you can't say I didn't try!

The Magic Formula

2009-03-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Breastfed Babe + Working Mom = Pumping

Formula Fed Babe + Working Mom = No Pumping

So what's your magic formula? I'll tell you mine, but you'll have to keep reading. For the past six months I've maintained a solid pumping schedule at work resulting in three pumps a day to produce the 12 ounces of milk Tatum needs while I am away. It's a pain in the ass and it's THE only issue I have with mothering. Last week the pumping reached a new level of discomfort that resulted in piercing pain and bleeding. Luckily, this occurred on a Thursday and I had the weekend to recover without the use of the breast pump. Fortunately the body heals, but I made the decision to wean my breast off the pump - engorgement and milk supply being the two main issues. As much as I am 100% for stopping pumping, I am 100% wanting to continue breastfeeding.

So my magic formula is a bit of both. I've reduced pumping to once per day while at work and I feed Tatum in the morning and at night. To maintain this, she's taking formula twice a day, mid-morning and mid-afternoon. This past weekend Tatum had her first bottle of formula while being with me. It was so easy and so convenient and she thought it was oh so good. The girl seems not to care where the milk is coming from as long as it's coming. Therefore the real issue is weaning myself off of Tatum; but not just yet.

Ten Months and Still Toothless

2009-03-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

It's darling that Tatum's maintains her toothless grin at ten months. A mother at Tatum's day care told me a few months ago (when I was convinced Tatum was teething) that she saw the appearances of teeth in her daughter's mouth as bittersweet - bitter that her smile changed and sweet that a new tooth appeared. Her advice was to enjoy the toothless grin while it lasts, at it's lasted us. I can now say with conviction that a tooth is coming in: the upper left tooth is pushing through and may break any day. So long toothless McGee, hello one tooth wonder.

She stole my heart and then my curls

2009-03-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant with Tatum, and even before, folks would always say to Andrew and I, "Your kids are going to have the curliest hair." We would jokingly reply saying "Even if our kids have straight hair, we'll still love them." Now the joke is on me.

It's obvious that a baby steals the heart of their mother; but what's not so obvious, that is until now, is that my baby also stole my curls - my curly hair that is. Now Tatum's innocence is the same as all fresh souls on this earth and I'm not putting blame on her; rather I am pointing my finger to the mysterious hormones of post pregnancy. Little by little, day by day, my curls have gone away, slipping into a straight doo. This past weekend while sitting in the stylist's chair I came to the realization that it isn't because I haven't showered, it isn't because I wear my hair pulled back, it's because my hair has changed. With the birth of my daughter came the death of my curls. Now I have nothing against straight hair except that I haven't had any myself since my prepubescent years of late. And now, twenty years later, motherhood has left its mark on my head of all places.

Hiking Buddies

2009-03-18T14:04:00.001-07:00

Max the softest dog in the world is Tatum's newest, favorite hiking buddy.

Max proudly belongs to our LA buddies the Cohens.

And that's Eagle Rock behind these two, how our neighborhood got it's name.

New Tub Fun

2009-03-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

During recent baths, Tatum's squirming in the tub led me to purchase a bath mat for the tub. So out with the old blue and in with the sticky pad white.

At first she was a bit confused by the new found space in the tub; but now she enjoys the expanded play area. Splish splash away.....

Slipping into a New Sleep Pattern

2009-03-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

With the helpful spring forward of relative time Tatum's new sleep pattern is from 7pm until 7am. For months now Tatum is a ticking time bomb at the five o'clock hour as we swiftly move through the evening routine of dinner, bath, changing, feeding, and down for the night at 6pm. We've adored the evening time Tatum has given us to cook dinner, wash bottles, catch the news and prepare for tomorrow. But nevertheless, how we would love for her to shift one hour in her schedule so we could enjoy a dinner out and sleep in an extra hour. So Andrew and I eagerly awaited the shifting of spring that comes with day light savings. The night magically lost an hour and Tatum magically slept in till 7:00. Today is the third day of the new 7 to 7 schedule, and so far so good.

And for all those mommas out there, no - Tatum does not sleep through the night. As easily as she wakes up for a feeding or two in the night, she easily goes back down. So my nights are peaceful, but do not contain continuous sleep. It works well for me and our family.

Stand Up and Take a Bow

2009-03-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

Tatum brought in March with strength and determination as she pulled herself to standing. For a while now we'll prop her against the bed or sofa and let her build leg strength; but a few Sundays ago I went into the bedroom to get Tatum from her nap and she was STANDING waiting and ready for me. The crib has come down to the lowest level as Tatum reaches for new heights.

Pulling herself up and standing opens a new world for her. We dusted off Drew and Ethan's (Tatum's twin cousins) old activity center and brought it into the living room where Tatum can take center stage in her own world of fun. This weekend as she was playing at the table she was cracking up, having a ball.

Now on the Big (Little) Screen: Tatum at the Birthday Cabin

2009-03-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

You can watch the video here, but the quality is poor (according to Andrew). It's much better to see (and larger on screen) if you click on the link below - it may take a minute or so before it plays.

www.wayofdale.com/ShearerCabinTrip_Feb09.mov

This amazing short film is 3 1/2 minutes of thrill seeking adventure. Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and Enjoy!

Nine Months - A New Age Dawns

2009-02-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

playing in the park - happy to be 9 mos!

Our little babe turned 9 months on Friday. Nine months and she's like a new babe - cute as ever but her gross motor skills are rearing at speeds mom and dad aren't quite ready for. Her crawls now span great distances between rooms and down hallways; she crawls to tables and pulls herself up to standing, bumping her head along the way. Her forehead is now decorated with bruises and cuts documenting her achievements and trials. Our next task is to baby-proof the house.

I remember visiting my cousins Amy and Kyle in Burnsville, NC over Christmas. They have a beautiful home, but not many decorations around. At first I thought this was a reflection of Amy's simplicity until I left my water glass on the end table that night only to wake to it being smashed by their one-year old James. Now I get it.

On other news: fine motor development - We've worked on perfecting her pincher grab, which now is utilized to pick up every speck of whatever on the floor. Tatum is better than a vacuum. I've come to adore stories of babes eating cat poop and pebbles and coins - putting my conscious at ease if and when Tatum swallows something not so ordinary. Children are resilient and antibodies are good - thus my new mantra. And the ER is less than a mile away!

Tatum and I visited the ER last weekend at the suggestion of my brother in law Andy, who is a pediatrician. Since our trip to El Capitan, Tatum was sick and running a fever over 100 degrees for a few days accompanied by a tight cough. Since bronchitis can turn quickly in babes, Andy suggested that we take her into the hospital and get a better look at her sickness. After four hours, Tatum came out A-Okay and a diagnosis of an ear infection. She finished her 10-day dose of antibiotics yesterday. And the whole family is feeling better.

our sick babe giving herself an oxygen treatment in the ER

Birthday Get-a-way

2009-02-18T14:50:00.001-08:00

In celebration of momma's 30th birthday, we took three days off work, packed the car with our bikes, hiking packs, camp stoves, lanterns and cooler and headed up California's beautiful coast line to El Capitan Canyon.

Our first stop was lunch in Ventura with our cousins Robbie, Luther and Allison who are here for the season establishing their newest Drop Zone - a sky diving adventure business. If any locals are interested in sky diving, let me know and I can tell you the best place in town to go! I however choose ground adventures, and have yet to take the dive.

So this is it - our birthday celebration cabin in a seaside canyon retreat - complete with a king size bed, kitchenette, bathroom, living space, front deck, fire pit and picnic table. Please visit my flicker page (upper left corner of the blog) to check out more views and sites.

On my 30th birthday day, February 12th, the family awoke sick. The only benefit to a sick babe is that she sleeps in and is super cuddly in and out of bed. So we spent the better part of the morning in bed with Tatum. After a hearty nap we bundled her up and went in search of the best source of Vitamin D the canyon and beaches had to offer.

Since our last ride I was informed that babes under one year old should not be in a bike seat because their neck muscles are not yet sufficiently developed. So we now know that, however, we evaluated the risks, and choose to take a short 5 minute ride to the beach for a picnic lunch among the crashing waves and flying birds. Tatum loved it and so did we.

The air was chilly but as you can see the skies were blue. After lunch we rode home for another well deserved nap. Upon waking we took to the hills for a quick hike to the summit. Turning 30 takes perspective, and this hike gave it to me.

On our return, we jotted over to the hot tub for a sunset soak and let Tatum enjoy us poolside.

The next day brought rains and our return trip home. But the fortune of rains is rainbows.

Memories were made.

Pumpkin Allergy

2009-02-16T18:05:00.000-08:00

The first food allergy has appeared - PUMPKIN. Interesting huh? I thought so. Other gourds have been fine; but there's something about the pumpkin. If anyone has any leads on this subject, I would love the references.

In the beginning we thought it was teething and day care too thought "oh yes, Tatum is teething." She was waking every two to three hours in the night and was fussy during the day. I began using Humphrey's Teething Pellets at the blog advice of my LA friend corsakti (great blog, check it out). It had to be teething, it just had to be.

After two nights of crazy waking, I noticed on the third evening that Tatum had a rash on her body - red spots all over the abdomen, and spots on her face. I laid off the pumpkin only in attempt to provide her what she loved during this teething time - peas, sweet potatoes and peaches.

It wasn't for until the next day that the word "allergy" popped into my head. I referenced my baby food cookbook and sure enough the symptoms were not teething at all.

Tatum is nearly nine months old and not a tooth in site. Andrew reminded me that for the last three months I've stated "oh, she must be teething" at least two dozen times. I'm sure I will know when it truly is teething time - nevertheless we're laying off the pumpkin. Perhaps we'll turn the leftovers into a soup for us!

Crawling Straight Into My Heart

2009-02-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

For those that know me, I am a hippy at heart and follow the moon as it waxes and wanes. This past full moon brought with it my 30th year birthday and Tatum's 9 month birthday - yes, we were both born on a full moon day. After her bath and massage that evening, Tatum explored the bedroom floor with her new found ability to get up on all fours and move. She scooted and rolled and crawled to the corner of the room. So I called for her to come back to me - "Tatum, come to momma, come on over here..." - she looked up with her toothless grin and charged forward in huffing laughter moving across the floor and then lurched herself onto my lap. The girl crawled straight into my heart. These are the glory moments of motherhood.

A visit from Lala and A brings surprises

2009-02-09T15:18:00.001-08:00

My folks are known as Lala and A to the grandbabes. They visited this weekend from Greenville, NC in an attempt to avoid the snow and cold and experience sunny So Cal; but the weather had other plans. It seems that Lala and A brought a bit of the stormy weather with them - but inside the Shearer home there was nothing but clear skies and sunshine brought by the excitement of Tatum's first crawl! It was quite auspicious to have Lala and A here to witness a first in Tatum's life. Now it's time for Momma and Poppa to clean house.

Oh wow!

2009-01-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

Tatum's eight month birthday came and went in the frenzy of Obama becoming president. Andrew and I were so excited about the day, the promise of new hope, the end of the Bush era, that we let notice of our little one's eight month birthday slip by. It wasn't until I logged on the blog the follow day and saw the counter "Tatum Bell Shearer is eight months old" that I realized that I forgot. Geez - what kind of mother am I? Obviosuly one that was transformed last Tuesday by our new president and our first night out in months. So sorry babe, if it wasn't for Obama the attention would have been on you.

So, she's now eight months old and socially brilliant (if I do say so myself). Tatum's not so much a talker as a grunter and squealer. She delights mosts in the appearances of ceiling fans, palm trees, and animals. When either of our cats India or Boofy enters the room, she lights up and lets out her Tatum roar to get their attention. They in return scram. Tatum doesn't have a light touch but an intense grab that doesn't quite do it for our furry friends. We're teaching her gentle, but there is only so much an eight month old can understand. She also loves people. When we're in a store, Tatum will look around trying to make eye contact with someone, anyone. Usually her cuteness charms, but I've come to find LA as a place of a lot of cute babes and a lot of folks that seem to be over it. So when she can't land a smile, she gets a little frustrated. I must write though, most days she scores smiles and waves and sometimes even flattering compliments.

Other big news:
1) Tatum can now maneuver from her belly to her bum - from laying down to sitting up in one precise somersault accompanied with a grunt. Two weeks ago when I picked her up from day care, Cecie informed us that twice that day they left her on her stomach and found her sitting. That night, after putting Tatum to bed, she awoke as she usually does after the midnight hour for a midnight feeding. I found her sitting up in her crib, rubbing her eyes, and moaning. It was amazingly cute. It is now commonplace to find Tatum sitting up in the crib after her naps and during the night. She seems sometimes frustrated by her new ability - almost as if she's in a dream state when she props herself up and then wakes in frustration. As a result, she's learned to lay herself back down and return to sleep. Thank goodness.

2) Our girl is saying "Da, da, da". Andrew adopted a new routine a few weeks ago determined to get Tatum to say his name. When he sees Tatum in the morning he says "Tatum (pointing to her)! Dada (pointing to himself)!" In response she squeals and shuffles her Tatum two step. Every now and then you can hear Tatum repeating "Da, da, da, da." I seem to recall her saying this sometime ago, but it was never repeated and therefore I didn't record it as her first. Like when we were on vacation in NC back in December, during an afternnon walk with Mimi Tatum kept repeating "La la la la". We haven't heard it since. However, on the 16th we were hiking with friends and I could here Tatum saying "da, da, da" over and over again. Since that day, it's now apart of her everyday expression. It's more of a sound than a word, but Andrew is determined to get her to say it with the intention of meaning him, and soon enough she will.

3) And I'd also like to note that Tatum used the pincher grab for the first time on Friday. We walked up to the store where we purchased some Gerber puffed rice snacks. On the return I poured a few into my hand. To our delightful surprise Tatum picked up a single puff with her finger and thumb and popped it into her mouth. After a few moments of missing the second and third try, she leaned over and gobbled the treat out of my hand. Now it is a hilarious event to feed Tatum these puffs and watch as she tries to put them into her mouth. She has this habit of putting her thumb into her mouth instead of putting whatever it is she is holding onto; so she ends up with fists full of puff rice treats and her thumb in her mouth. Oh well.

Developmental milestones can be as much of a blessing as burden: a blessing when something new is achieved, and a burden when comparisons creeep in. It's all to easy to compare what your child is doing to another. Earlier this month I was speaking to a corps member who is a 20 year old mom to a son born five days before Tatum. I was telling her how exciting it is to see Tatum lurch forward in an attempt to crawl. She plainly tells me that her boy has been crawling for a month and says da da to his da da; he also stands against furniture on his own. So, wow - that's amazing. It's truely amazing. Amazing that any of the kids I serve or any parent I know for that matter has a child that can hit any milestone. In that moment I decided to let go - it being the naging mind of "when?" - and embrace the adventure of observing my freewheeling daughter fly her own path.

One last thing: In an attempt to document the flying times of watching our daughter grow, Andrew surprised me with a video recorder last Tuesday night. Stay tuned for fantastic footage....

New Tastes

2009-01-21T11:02:00.001-08:00

Today's Features: Bananas served in a mesh-pop (SHE LOVED THIS) and Avacados taken at our new neighborhood fave resturant Aunty Em's Kitchen.

Cruising Around Town

2009-01-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

On Saturday January 17th, we loaded the car with our bikes and the new kid seat and headed to Santa Monica. It was a perfect day - mid 70s, sun shining, folks skating, running, riding, playing - meanwhile the rest of the nation was suffering from freezing temperatures. So if you ever wonder "why?" we live in LA - it for days like this (and the film industry). Tatum loved the experience of whizzing by the beach scene as we rode fourteen miles along the boardwalk from Santa Monica through Venice down to Marina del Rey and back.

On Sunday, Tatum and I took our second ride and headed to the top of Ellenwood Drive where we live and rode Hill Street down 2.5 miles to the Eagle Rock Recreation Center and Park. This is a great park that includes a playground and tons of open space to play. When we arrived, my co-pilot had fallen asleep at the wheel. I decided not to push the swing set on her at this time, we'd come back tomorrow.

And come back we did. Even though Tatum fell asleep again on the way over, I was able to wake her for some fun in the park. We tried out the swing sets first. I couldn't tell if was the swinging or watching the other kids swing, but she was smiling and having fun enjoying the scene. We played for a while in the sand proving ample opportunity to explore the taste and texture. What's a visit to the park without a sand eating experience?!

Poopy Push Face

2009-01-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

No matter what your size, pooping can be tough. Recently, with the introduction of new foods, Tatum has started to make this unique face to push out the poo. I just had to share.