CALLING ALL MOMS WHO HAVE TRAVELED WITH A WILD LAPCHILD...

I am pleading for some advise from the moms out there who have traveled successfully with a 19 month old lap child. My flight is a 5 hour non-stop on a packed late afternoon flight. What started as a sweet easy baby has now morphed into a wild toddler.

I am still re-living the nightmare of dinner the other night with three spilled drinks... two on me, and a wild child strutting all over the restaurant eating ice cubes from the spilled drinks off the floor.

Oh how I wished I would have followed my motherly intuition and bought Tate her own seat. I guess the cheap inter-voice spoke louder.

TATE-ISM

Tate's language acquisition is bursting... she is saying and doing the funniest things. Here are a few that happen within the past day.

• When Tate sneezes she follows it up with a "bwess you" (bless you)



• Tate was left alone in a room with a Kleenex box. A box that proved too much of a temptation for one busy smart toddler. When I walked into the room I discovered tissues everywhere. One glance at me and Tate grabs a tissue and start fake coughing and wiping her nose. How can I not bust a gut at my clever girl?



• Tate sings along to most everything. With all seriousness, she tried opera the other day. There is nothing cuter than a sweet little voice speaking the language of a toddler singing opera.



• Tate and her Gramps have quite an act going. Gramps will sing the song How much is that doggie in the window and Tate provides the dog barking part of woof woof woof.



• Favorite word right now is "mine".... She will say this about everything around the house. Truth be told, everything is hers. Poor Mesa has just a few balls that are Mesa's. I have had to remind Tate that the balls are Mesa's and she has to ask Mesa if she will share them with Tate. Tate will now pick up the ball and got to Mesa with a one word question SHARE??? Of course, Mesa always shares with her Tate.

BUG BITES AND BENTOS

OUCH!!! Tate was attacked by unseasonably early mosquitoes. I think she must be allergic to them because of her strong reaction to the bites. So strong it had me rushing to the doctor just in case it was something more than a bug bite.



Tate loves to get little morsels of food on toothpicks... Being the smart momma that I am, I zoned in on this fact pretty fast and cracked open our Bento supplies to find these animals picks. She loves them! Notice the bug bite on her sweet finger....

This is Tate's posed smile. I am hoping this "smile" thing will be over soon. Although I love this mug of a smile, I miss Tate's natural smile.

ZOO TIME.....

Tate has started to pose for her smiles. This is what we get when we ask her to smile, including the clenched hands.


Tatie's Auntie Kelly is here from Tampa for a quick visit! The sun was out and spring was truly in the air.... How can we resists taking Nana and Aunt Kelly to the Zoo. We live only 10 minutes from the Zoo and have a season Zoo pass.

Since visiting the Zoo really is all about Tate and her enjoyment, we actually only saw a few animals but spent A LOT of time watching the baby elephant, Zuri and her momma. Zuri was so playful and adorable!

I posed her on this bronze statue. She looks like she is not too sure about this, however, she did not want to be taken off

Auntie Kelly is trying to teach Tatie how to say Rhinoceros... she is very thoughtful when she is being taught this... I think one day this hard word will leave her lips.

ONE OF "THOSE" MOMS!!!

Pre-Tate, I would go to the grocery store and scoff at the moms with kids in sleepers. Well, today I joined the ranks of these moms. Yep, I grabbed Tate in her ever so cute sleeper and headed to the local market for milk and chocolate. Necessities that are needed around Tate's kingdom. Thankfully it was early enough that the store was almost empty. Whew!

FLORIDA BOUND... a few readers have asked where in Florida Tate and I will be going... TAMPA and Orlando area!!! I cannot wait to relax (ha!) in the sun with my toes in the sand. No we are not doing the Disney World this trip.

PINK POLKA DOT TOT

We will be heading off to Florida at the end of March so I thought I better see if Tate had swimming suits that still fit. I have to pinch myself just to make sure that I am not dreaming and this bundle of loving beauty is truly part of my life. I love her so!

SWINGING INTO SPRING!