Cutting Off That Ginger Hair

It happened.

She has had trims before but never a real cut.  

Her mullet status was undeniable, and her bangs were looking so ratty.  

Every day Scott and I would look at each other and wonder how long we could let her carry on like this.

And then one day we got up the courage and did it!

As you can see, she got phone privileges to keep her distracted and still.

She was a star.

The haircut turned out pretty well.  Could have been worse, could have been better! 

But we can say that she no longer has a mullet, and since this cut about 3 weeks ago, her hair has grown in some and is fuller and far less scraggly! Her over the ear wings have calmed down and now she can wear her hair down instead of always having to be in pig tails!

Well, that's enough about a 1 year olds haircut...  

Tatum Funnies- 22 Months

If I have something on my face, Tatum will go get her wipes and then point exactly where my face is messy.  Even if it is just a little crumb, she will make sure my face is clean!

(The photos are generally unrelated to the stories... fyi)

When Tatum sits in her chair to eat, she insists on being buckled in.  If I don't do it for her then she does it herself, which is successful 90% of the time, but that other 10% she clips her finger in causing at least 20 min of screams.  So now, I'm always sure to buckle her in myself!

Lately, Tatum will wave incessantly to people opposite us on the train.  Once she gets a wave back... she keeps on waving.  And waving.  And waving.  People are generally nice about it, but they don't know what else to give back!

For the first time ever, Tatum decided what she wants to wear.  Her pocket dress. (Pictured above)  No matter that she's worn it the last 2 weeks in a row, she wants to wear her dress with pockets!  On Saturday night I prepped her that in the morning we will wake up to play, read and eat breakfast, and after nap we are going to church. "Pah-ke dre?"  And then in the morning, she went to find it and set it out for later.  Whatever floats the girl's boat!  (I think it helps that Scott hides treats and toys in her pockets for her to "unsuspectingly" find!)

She is learning to make deals.  Finally!  Just this week (I feel like) we got to a place where I can tell her, If you eat the rest of your sandwich, then you can have more smoothie-- and she understands and actually does it!  Another example, "I can't be with you when you treat me this way (yelling "no" and pulling my hair) so you go to your room and knock on the door when you can come out happy."  Give it 2-3 minutes and she knocks repeating "happy" over and over.  I'm always nervous she'll come out and be in a bad mood again, but no, she really does come out happy!

She found Scott's Swedish Fish and let's just say there were none left when he got home...

Tatum takes care of her friends.  Lambie and Dolly that is.  She is often eager to share her snacks with Lambie, and even brings Dolly and blanket to tuck her in.  It's the sweetest.

My very favorite thing Tatum does is let us know when she tastes a good food.  On the first bite she starts with the "mmmMMMMMmmm"  And she does vary in emotion based on just how good it is!  She especially loves chocolate, smoothies, PB sandwiches (she asks for one at least 3x each day), and there are a few other foods she will do this for.  She eats a variety of things happily, so we are glad we have a system down so we know when we've found something she really LOVES!

The girl has a real personality now!  Our days together are a lot of fun!

Valentines Round 2

You thought the Valentine Photo Booth pictures were over?

Wrong.

If I made the booth I was going to use it for two parties!  We had some good friends in our ward over for some fun, fun times.

Conversation heart stacking.

Winner: Joanna!

And the classic minute to win it, the marshmallow toss:

Dianne was fierce and Ian put up a good fight!

Last but not least, the photo booth!  I was impressed with everyone's creativity and quick posing skills:

The Aveytuas and the Foss':

The Shumways, Us and the Rasos.  

We also played Two Truths and a Lie, Love Style (which was hilarious and a big hit) and did a chocolate identification test-- I gave 6 samples of various brands of chocolate and guests labeled each one with their guess "Lindt, Cadbury, Symphony..."  It was pretty fun and in case you're wondering, Lindt was the favorite by FAR!  Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines Play Group

We have an awesome mom's group here in Harlem.

My very first Sunday, one mom told me "Oh don't worry at all, there is lots of help and no drama-- we NEED each other here!"

Most everyone is far from family, have husbands who are gone working crazy NY hours, and the moms really stick together.  

We have a few standard meetings each week, one of which is playgroup. During the summer we do fun activities or meet at the park, but all winter long we go apartment to apartment- everyone squeezing in and leaving strollers outside.  I volunteered to host this week, and we had such a good turn out and such a good time!  

We had a photo booth which I had (not high) hopes for, a marshmallow hunt which was a huge hit, and heart shaped, pink rice krispie treats.  We had between 25-30 people here, and once it got too crazy, it was time for everyone to go home for lunch and naps!  Perfect!

It was a little too crazy to get everyones photo, but here are a few cute ones:

I ended up taking T's pic just today at 2pm.  I'd kind of given up on the idea of doing Valentines photos, but seeing everybody else's inspired me to do her hair and get it done.  Nothing too special, but it is fun to do something festive to mark time passing.

xoxo!