Tatum James

I can’t believe it’s Christmas…. (to quote Tate’s latest favorite movie, “The Toy That Saved Christmas” and I can’t believe how far Tate has come in a year.  Last Christmas he was still on oxygen, still soooo fragile, still on ‘house arrest’ and since our families were sick, we spent Christmas alone, just the three of us (five if you count the cats!)

I used to spend a lot of time begging God to let Tate live - and I can’t thank God enough for answering all those desperate prayers. As a parent I think that I have gained a fuller (though still pretty meager) understanding of the incredible, unfathomable gift God gave us when He sent His precious Son to us in the form of a tiny, little child. It broke my heart when I had to leave Tate behind at the hospital, in the hands of some amazing doctors and nurses, in those early days - how could God bear it to leave His Son with the likes of us? That’s a whole lot of love.

This year, Tate is tinkering all over the place, walking like crazy, squatting (we had to work on that one), rough housing with Daddy (FLOP!), crawling up the steps (yup, had to add another baby gate) and chasing the cats everywhere.  He LOVES to grab an ornament off the tree and run away like he’s got some great treasure (hey, if you consider cheap shatterproof oranments from Walmart a treasure, more power to ya!).  He keeps us on our toes and constantly in stitches. 

Tate’s amassing quite a little vocabulary:  Momma, Dadda, Cat, Kitty Cat, SHH SHH Cat (Sushi cat), hi, hey, yeah, yum, God, Tate, and a host of things he knows but I can’t follow.  He says 2 sentences:  “Hi Cat” and the other day at church he went up to the front door, licked the window, and hollered “Hey, Yeah, God!”  I guess we all worship in differnet ways.  Tater-tot also signs Mommy, Daddy, More, All Done, occassionally drink, and we’re working on eat and today I saw him sign Help although I couldn’t figure out what he wanted help with.  Who knows? 

He is able to stack his rings in the right order by himself and can figure out how to nest his cups in order, too.  He loves his little people - especially the sheep, his little cars and trucks, and of course his cups.  He REALLY loves his kitty cats.  They are very tolerant but not always appreciative of his affection.

The other day at church Tate’s little friend Leslie, was crawling on the floor and having quite a nice time.  Tater-tot walked over to her, patted her on the head, and very clearly said “CAT.”  Guess Leslie has a new nickname!

It’s so much fun to see Tate learn and grow and explore.  It’s also fun to see his personality began to bloom.  He still is the same spunky, determined little boy from the NICU, but a whole lot healthier, stronger, and every day gets even more fun.

What a guy!  Tate is nearly 17 months old (14 months adjusted) and he is just amazing!   Sometimes I just stop and watch him in awe because of how far he’s come…. God is good! I never thought I would have such a miracle. 

  Tate’s First Haircut (given by Mommy) on Dec. 2nd

Every day is more and more fun, as Tate gets into more and more trouble, LOL!  He spends his day chasing the kittycats, reading books, and making messes with his toys.  His favorites are still the yellow ring, and blue sheep, but he also loves the little sheep from the Little People Farm and Nativity Set (thankfully, there are 3 of them!) and the yellow cookie from his cookie jar toy.  We keep trying to introduce a lovey, but Tate prefers plastic. 

Tate still signs: Mommy, Daddy, More, All Done, Milk, and he is learning Help, Drink, and Eat.  He says a handful or words, too, but noone ever hears him but Mommy and Daddy:  cat, Momma, Dadda, yeah, yum, hi, hey, and the other day he very clearly said “TATE” at the dinner table.  He also tries to mimic our words a lot, which is a lot of fun.

The biggest news of all - Tate is sleeping through the night!  For about 10 days now, Tate has been sleeping for 7 to 8, and maybe even 9 hours at night.  AND he sleeps on the bed between us, and not in our arms.  The first night, Mommy didn’t sleep at all, and the second night she just slept a little.  By the third night it was old hat! Now Mommy feels 20 years younger after getting a few good nights of sleep! Of course, Tatum takes up most of the bed and Mommy and Daddy are falling off of each side, but who cares?  We’re all asleep!

Of course, the sleeping at night means not so much sleeping during the day - Tate is down to 1 one hour or so nap a day.  Not a lot of time for Momma to get stuff done.  And today Tater-tot just about got himself out of his packnplay….now what? 

Tate’s doing really well overall, and amazingly well for a 27 weeker. I am very grateful!  That said, he had his 6 month pt eval today, and he tested at just 12 months for gross motor skills.  The physical therapist said he also tends to be very rigid, which isn’t a good thing.  So we still have things to work on…. Tate also has a very quick “cry switch” - he gets upset very easily, but thankfully he calms back down pretty easily, too.  It’s probably a sign that his central nervous system is still immature.  And of course, no daycare or nursery yet as we still have to be careful of germs, especially during cold and flu season. Tate is growing and the doctor is pleased with his growth, but he is sooo tiny!  At 17 months, he’s not even 20 pounds and still wearing a lot of 6 to 9 month old clothes.  The only thing big about Tate is his head and his feet!  Tate’s 9 month old buddies are starting to surpass him in size…. but what he lacks in height, Tate certainly makes up for in personality and charm. We are so blessed!

 

 

It seems like Tate does something new every day, and it’s so much fun to watch him learn and explore.  It’s amazing to see the world through his eyes, and experience the joy of everything he loves, from his “blue sheep” puzzle piece, to his yellow plastic ring, and especially his books.  He loves his books!!!  He will pull all the books off of the bookshelf, find the one he wants, and then run to our laps to read it.  It’s wonderful!

Tate and His yellow ring and blue sheep

 

Tate finally learned to crawl!!! It is still very difficult for him and very tiring, but he can do it.  We try to encourage him to crawl so that he gains the upper body strength that he needs, but Tate would still prefer to walk.  He walks and he walks and he walks!  The physical therapist started teaching Tate how to crawl up the steps… he is starting to get the idea, but isn’t strong enough to master it on his own yet.  And besides, he would much rather WALK up the steps, lol.  We let him walk around in public places and people are amazed that such a tiny kid can walk.  They are always surprised that he is 15 months old, especially because he still wears 6 to 9 month clothes!

Tate- theres a cup on your head!

A few other fun things that Tate is up to:  sticking out his tongue on command, starting to try to stack his cups, putting the “cookies” in his toy cookie jar, and he is able to put his little toy animals in their proper places in the barn and shut the gates for each one.  Pretty clever! 

Not sure what’s going on here, but they look guilty to me!

He says “Mommy” “geeka” (kittycat) “yum” “hey” and “Hi” and he will attempt to repeat the words “thank you” and “good job” (he hears that one A LOT).  And he still signs Mommy, Daddy, Milk, More, and All Done.  Not a bad vocab for a little peanut!

Tate and his Geeka

Tate loves to walk over to the french door and look outside and he loves to watch it rain.  He loves to be around people, and he really loves his mommy and daddy.  What a treat that is!

Awwwww.

Last week was Tate’s “should have been” birthday…. so if he was born when he “shouldabeen” he would now be 1 year old! 

 Tate’s first hayride with his cousins

 Our little virtuoso

Hammin’ it up.

 Daddy, please change my diaper….

What a week it’s been for Tate….

Tate’s Chair

Friday a week ago, Tate was perfectly fine all day.  When we went to change his diaper for the last time before bed, we discovered an infection that wasn’t there at the last diaper change.  It was pretty yucky looking, so we called the pediatrician helpline and they sent us to the ER “just in case”.  We got there around 11, and came home around 4 am.  UGH.  Basically, the ER docs said “it happens” and gave us a prescription cream which took care of the problem.  Tate was kind of uncomfortable the next day, and we were all exhausted from being up all night so we took it easy and stayed close to home.  The ER doctor that mostly took care of Tate had a cold - and guess what…. 2 days later, Tate had it. (2 days after that, Mommy got it!!!)

I suppose this wouldn’t be a big deal to a typical toddler, but for us, it was huge!!!  The big deal was that Tate got sick, but not soooo sick that we had to rush him to the ER or even the doctor’s office.  He didn’t even need nebulizer treatments - that is amazing!!!  I’m actually teary-eye with relief because the last time he had a head cold we had to call 911.  Of course, the doctors still want us to keep him away from sick people as much as possible and we’ll be bringing back the hand sanitizer, too.  (If you’re sick, please stay away!!!) 

In spite of being sick, Tate figured out that he can walk around all on his own!  He’s been taking off and toddling all over the place, and of course, falling down a lot.  Friday night Tate took off after the kitty-cat (or Gee-ka as he calls her) with Mommy right behind.  Sushi the cat decided Tate was getting a little close for comfort, and took off up the stairs.  Tate changed direction midstep to try to follow her, and crashed head first in the side of the stairs.  We grabbed the ice, the tylenol, and got Tate calmed down (with the help of some Gerber snacks, of course) and he had a nice bruise on his forehead - a straightline from his eyebrow to his hairline from the trim on the steps.  Ouchie!  We debated another trip to the ER, but he seemed just fine so we just kept an eye on him instead.

The bruise on his head faded surprisingly fast, and I couldn’t figure out why, until Monday morning - all that old blood oozed from his forehead down into his eye area, and voila - Tate got his first shiner!!! Really it just looks like someone scribbled on him with a green marker, but the little guy seems none the worse for wear.  And I’m sure it’s just the first of many….

This afternoon Tate has his appointment with the allergist to have a test to see if he can have the flu shot. 

Tate dumped a bag of yogurt melts so he could eat them off the floor… the cat thought she might like some, too….

Oh, and I forgot to mention - Tate finally crawled!!!! He wanted his sippy cup and no one one was looking, so he crawled over and got it.  And he can pull up “when he wants too.”  Funny - in the NICU the nurses and doctors would comment on how active and strong-willed he was.  Somethings just don’t change!!! LOL.