Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Weekend Scenes at the Shore

We spent last weekend down the shore and had the best weather.  Luckily it was way cooler than the weekend before and on the beach there was a great breeze which was so relaxing.  We grabbed Mexican for lunch right when we got down on Thursday and then got to the beach late afternoon until about 5:30 or so.


We grabbed drinks on the bay at The Reeds and then went over to one of our favorite restaurants, The Sea Grille.  After dinner we walked over to Avalon Freeze for ice cream and Tatum was a happy guy enjoying a sweet treat after his bedtime.


Friday morning the boys walked to get donuts and then we all walked around by the shops in Stone Harbor.  We ate an early lunch on the patio at The Reeds before getting ready for a long beach day.


We had a long beach day on Friday - After playing for a little bit Tatum was wiped out from waking up early (and running right to the window to look out and point to tell us he wanted to get back out to play) and did a 2.5 hour nap under the umbrella so we relaxed, read, etc.  Once he woke up we stayed a little bit longer to let him play a bit more.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Home Updates

It's been a little while since we had any home projects going on.  Earlier in July we painted most of the house (other than the bedrooms which we'll do over the winter to break it up) and updated a few light fixtures.

This gave us the push we needed to finish any extra decor items, etc. and really complete things.


In addition to painting, we wallpapered a few rooms too.  My favorite print is in my office - I love how it came out and the pattern has navy/blues in it which ties to a couple other rooms in the house that we painted different shades of blue.


My favorite room may be the smallest - the powder room.  In addition to the wallpaper print I was able to find some touches that matched really well so the room came together easily.  We have a new light fixture so are just working on switching out the hardware on the sink and toilet paper holder.


The last of the wallpapered rooms (for now) is the living room - I wanted to do this one wallpapered instead of the dining room because in the winter months I spend a good amount of time sitting in here. We were able to keep all the same pillows, rugs, decorations and some wall hangings then just added a few extra. 


It took us a while to settle on this shade of navy but I'm glad we did - for now we're using the wall hangings that were in the living room and eventually we'll change those out.  Our conservatory has a lighter shade of blue so this room really ties well together with that and the living room in between.

Monday, July 22, 2019

This & That

Dining Under the Stars is back for another summer and we did our first Wednesday night dinner a couple weeks ago - I look forward to a few nights like this each summer.. We've only been once so far so hopefully later in August/September we get back for a few more.


We hadn't hosted in a little bit so we had a family barbecue at our house last week which luckily fell before our heat wave (that's finally about to end) so we could enjoy some time on the deck as well.


To start off this past weekend we took Tatum and his friends to dinner and then a kids concert in the park.  He was all over the place dancing and had the best time.


Like I said we've been in a heat wave with upper 90 degree days and other than a quick trip to the pool yesterday, we've been doing a lot of playing inside to stay cool!

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Tatum Beau: 21 Months


Height, Weight & Health:
We don't go back for a checkup until his two year visit but he does like playing on the bathroom scale and is in the 25 pound rage (just about same as Stella!)

He started getting his four canine teeth at 18.5 months causing a few wakeups overnight but overall not too bad.

He's finally solidly into his 18 month clothes (they were a little big at the start of the summer), size 5 shoes and size 4 diapers.

Sleep:
We worked on pushing his nap back at 18/19 months it was around 12:30 but if we're out for whatever reason for an outing it can be pushed back later and he usually goes with the flow.  If we're out somewhere past 12:30 he'll likely fall asleep on the way home.

Around 20 months we pushed it back a little bit more and made sure nap was between 12:30 and 1pm but again if we were out at the pool or somewhere he does okay going down later in the afternoon.  He can sleep anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours.

He is a solid night sleeper and while bedtime is usually around 7:30, these summer months have been tough and we don't mind letting him stay up a bit late to play outside or if we have something going on so this can range from 7:30 until about 9:30.  He can sleep up to 12 hours but usually if going to be late is definitely up by 8am the next day (average is 6:45 - 7:45).

Feeding:
Right at 18 months we stopped cutting up his food as much and let him bit into things, have bigger pieces, etc. Depending his mood sometimes he'll bite into sandwiches, sometimes he'll want them cut up.  Most other foods we still cut up.  He's working on learning to use the fork but many times still prefers his hands.

He's obsessed with watermelon and loves all fruit.  He has tried and loves hot dogs, doesn't mind peas, is enjoying many summer popsicles and still likes all the usual favorites.


Schedule:
6:45 - 7:45: Wakeup (lays in bed with us for a little bit usually)
8am: Breakfast then a quick playtime while I tidy up the kitchen, unload the dishwasher, etc.
9am: Set out for some kind of outing - usually the gym first and then errands, play with friends, morning pool time, etc.
Noon: Lunch
1pm: Nap (this can vary anywhere from 12:45 if we're home until 2/2:30 if we're out)
Right after nap: Snack and tv show on the couch
Afternoon: Play, pool, meet up with friends, miscellaneous things.  The rest of the day usually is hit or miss on timing depending on summer.  Dinner is around 6ish if possible followed by a little bit of playing, bath time and bed time (average is about 8/8:30 these days).

Likes:
Dancing and listening to music.  Playing in the gym childcare watch - he runs right in.

Brushing his teeth and he recently got upgraded to toothpaste with fluoride instead of the learning kind.

Swimming and playing outside.

He's learned to throw a bigger ball back and forth and loves it.

Learning:
He started a group swim lessons class at the gym on Monday mornings from the end of April until early June.

Words!  We've started keeping a list to make sure he's saying enough, etc. at 19 months his favorites include Dada, Ball, Uh Oh, No!, Thank You, Oh Wow, Bye, boo boo.

He can show you where his belly button is, where our belly buttons are, where his nose is, go open the drawer where the pacifiers are and wait for us to get one out.  He knows to run to the door if I say we're going outside or to the steps if I say we're going upstairs.  If we ask where Stella is he either points or runs over.

Learning how to put things in the trash when he's done with them as well as he knows how to give Stella a treat or scraps if we tell him to.

Just in the past week or so he's really picking up speed in learning new words -- all new in the past week are baby, mickey, apple and some other recent ones are beep beep, choo choo, go, get down.

Dislikes/Setbacks:
If he sees one of us going outside through the garage whether to go outside, leave or take Stella out he throws a HUGE hissy fit if he's not able to go.

He definitely has a few setbacks as he doesn't get his way.

Milestones:
We began planning his birthday trip to Disney World (well a little before 18 months) but everyone is really looking forward to it!

Celebrated his second Easter with a lot of celebrating, a few egg hunts (he liked picking them up).  He also celebrated his second 4th of July and loved the fireworks.

19 months - learned how to kick and swim with his floaty on in the pool without us holding him.

We're working on stopping use of his paci and it's going really well (20 months) - right now he only uses it in the car, at nap time and at bed time.  He has started sucking his fingers a little bit in return!

Places:
He went to Kiawah with us as well as my parents and my brother.

He had a long stay in California at the start of June and was the happiest little guy while we were there.  He swam, played, got tons of attention and loved it.

He had his first weekends at the lake of the season and seems to be happy there running all over and getting used to playing in the lake.

Favorites:
His slide, outdoor playhouse, little people, golf clubs and anything around the house that he's not supposed to be playing with.  Loves playing with any kitchen utensil around.  He continues to love his golf clubs, baseball tee and any/all pool toys.

Monday, July 15, 2019

Weekend Scenes


We had a great weekend doing a mix of things - mainly spending time outside since the weather was so nice.  On Thursday I shopped the Nordstrom sale early with a few girlfriends and it was a great way to start off the weekend.


I had to wake these two up on Friday but after the three of us took a morning walk and I did a few things around the house we picked up sandwiches and headed to the pool late morning for swimming and lunch before nap time.


Friday afternoon we made our way up to the lake for the night and got there just in time for happy hour, appetizers and then pizza later on.


Saturday might have been one of our nicest days so far this summer!  Lots of sun, lots of breeze and a great dock day - we headed down late morning until lunch time and let Tatum nap in the shade to stay down a little bit longer.


After lunch it was back down to do more of the same.  Tatum swam until he was exhausted again and enjoyed special dock treat - a popsicle.  We left for home late in the afternoon for a BBQ.


Sunday morning and afternoon we enjoyed some deck time as it wasn't overly hot back there.  I hadn't filled Tatum's water table in a while so he loved doing that while I read my book and Derek relaxed.


In between deck time we went to the country club with friends for swimming and lunch.  Tatum fell asleep poolside so we left for nap and then finished the weekend by making chicken enchiladas for dinner.