Vocab explosion begins!

So Tatum has steadily been using new words, on her own each day. I've even begun to keep a pen and paper handy so I can jot down the newsest words. I've used a little "communication inventory" to log the words she understands and then the words she understands and says. So for me to count the word, she has to say the word without my prompting. Imitating something she just heard doesn't count. Most of the time they are used in the correct context, and she is just learning so much each day.

Okay, here is the current count.... Drumroll please!!!

168 words (not including any names!)

A sampling: walk, park, swing, battery (she knows when a toy needs these!), massage (sssage!), mess, hole, straw, copter (can tell between airplane and copter sounds!), sticker, I love you, trash, stuck, fly, ant, bee (everything that is crawling on the ground is an ant, and everything that flies is a bee), noodles, dip, step, bite, Mickey, Dora, George (curious george), seal, octopus, dirty, ice cream

First Belly Pics

There is no snazzy title, just the first belly pictures at about 14 weeks. Still feeling nauseated at odd times during the day, but getting along just fine. Not the most enjoyable pregnancy, but I'm hanging in there. Baby and I are going to be together for a long while yet!

Snaggle-tooth

A few weeks ago we visited the famous Rosenblatt Stadium for a Omaha Royals Baseball game. 2 minutes after we took our seats, Tatum did a header over a row of seats and chipped her tooth. She cut her lip a little, but was such a trooper. So she made a trip to the dentist a few days later and they sort of took of the ragged edges. Here, she sports her cheesy smile, which now definately has some character!!

The bottomless pit

Last night we visited Valentinos- a "Grand Italian Buffet". It was our first time, and having lived in Omaha for nearly 5 years I felt a bit odd admitting we had never checked the place out. It is an Omaha legend. For 75 cents, Tatum enjoyed the following:

An entire piece of cheese pizza
2 plates of spaghetti marinara
fresh pineaple
a few bites of cottage cheese and a strawberry fluff thing
An entire piece of dessert pizza
a bowl of ice cream with strawberries and sprinkles
2 bites of mom's ice cream

YIKES!

Aquarium visit and Squeaky Eel

So to reinforce Tatum's new found love of "Oc-Pus" she and I headed to the Omaha zoo for the sole purpose of finding that Oc-Pus and staring him down. Outside the aquarium there is a bronze statue of a scary looking Octopus. We checked him out and headed inside. Tatum loved watching the puffins and penguins dive in the water, and swim all over the place. She's seen it so many times, but it was all so exciting this time around- she is really understanding alot about many of the animals from some of her favorite books. When we finally got to the Octopus tank, there was one that was sleeping all balled up against the glass. There was a second one that we saw right away and it really scared her (I'll admit the thing was freaky!). It hid from us and we didn't get to see that little dude again. So the Octopus hunt was not as climactic as I had thought, but she really enjoyed the aquarium nonetheless. She loved pointing out "big" fish and I think she is starting to understand the difference between a shark and a fish!

The Eel awakening...

So during our Florida trip I bought Tatum a plastic Eel that squeaks loudly. It was the toy that was easiest to elicit a noise, so that is why it was chosen. Yesterday Tatum was napping and towards the end of the naptime I heard a familiar sqeaking sound.... Tatum had grabbed the Eel from her toybox and was happily squeaking away in her crib. Thanks Alice the Eel!

Tatum is getting ready to spend her first week away from Mommy & Daddy. Our babysitter is going on a 2 week trip to Ireland, so she is spending some time with Grandma Wanda and Nana & Papa Zubrod next week.

Oc-Pus!

Last week we discovered that Tatum had been secretly studying deap sea animals.... We looked at a Baby Einstein Bath Book that has an Octopus doing things in different kinds of water, drinking it, sitting in a boat, under a sprinkler, in the rain, crying and in the bath. We haven't looked at this book for at least a month. Right away Tatum excitedly said "Oc-Pus!" When she saw another octopus, she said it with even more excitement!!! I couldn't help but gush all about it the next day at work to everyone, and you just have to see how cute she is when she says it! This is not the most representative sample, and you can see that it took some coaxing, but here it is!!!

Florida April 1-8

The Silly Stilles flew to Florida to visit Jason's Dad, Brent, and his wife Denise (Grandpa & Grandma).

Tatum was soaking wet the first chance she got- the pool had just been filled but that certainly didn't stop her from playing in the cold water. She especially enjoyed taking a shovel and throwing the water over her back.

H2O FRENZY!!!!!!!

Diaper Dipping!

Lakeland has the most absolutely wonderful park. It is seriously like an outdoor children's museum extravaganza!

Firefighter Tatum at the Lakeland Children's Museum

After dinner at Carrabas!

Saturday the Stilles hosted a family dinner so that we could catch up with much of Denise's family. Tatum prefers to spend absolutely every minute possible outside. We enjoyed temperatures in the upper 70's to 80's for most of our stay.

Jason & Lisa took a day trip to Clearwater Beach. We had lunch with some friends and stayed at Sand Key where we spent most of the day relaxing by the beach, then the pool and then played sand volleyball with some younger spring-breakers.

That evening we took a Dinner Cruise around the bay area.

Tatum enjoyed feeding the fish in the backyard pond.