Ree-Ree

Many of you have heard stories of our neighbor Reid, also known as Ree-Ree. He is four and is such a hoot! He has the cutest lisp and always has something to say. Phil and I love him because he makes us laugh every time we see him. He seems to like us, too, because he comes over all the time "to say hi". When he comes by himself, he usually rings the doorbell twice, we answer the door, and when we ask him if he wants to come in, he either says "sure" or "I can't. I just came over to say hi, but Mommy says I have to come right back." Sometimes he comes over to ask if he can lie in our hammock. Other times he comes to see Luke, takes one look at him, then starts looking around for something to play with or something to eat. Last year right before Halloween, Reid came over wearing a Darth Vader helmet with his mom and brother. After a while, I asked Reid if he was going to be Darth Vader for Halloween. He looked over at us and with a 3 year-old's Darth Vader-inspired voice, said "Luuuuuuuke....I yer fah-der." This was before we even knew we were having a boy and way before we thought to name him Luke. Now whenever anyone jokes with Phil about saying the famous Star Wars line to Luke, we can't help but hear Reid's version in our heads. Yesterday Ree-Ree came over to say hi and decided to come in. Here's a glimpse of why we love Ree-Ree:

Doorbell rings. I answer the door.
Merran: Hey Ree-Ree!
Reid: Hi.
Merran: Whatchya doin'?
Reid: Um... I just came over to say hi. (Bends over and picks up a leaf, breaks it into pieces.)
Merran: Well, Luke's awake. Wanna come in and see Luke?
Reid: Sure.
Merran: He's in here with Phil, playing on the couch.
Reid (to Phil, seeing that the TV is on): What are you watching?
Phil: The news.
Reid: Of what?
Phil: The news of the United States of America.
Reid: Oh.
Merran: Hey Reid, can I take your picture with Luke?
Reid (smiling and leaning back onto the couch): Um, no. I'm not really a picture guy anymore.
Merran: You're not?
Reid: No.
Merran: Well, can I just take ONE picture? We don't have any pictures of you. I just want one of you with Luke.
Reid: Well can you just take one of me sitting next to this pillow?
Merran: Why is that any different than sitting next to Luke? He's not going to bite you or anything. Just sit over there next to Phil and Luke. Please????
Reid: Ok.
We take the picture.
Phil: Do you want to hold Luke?
Reid: No. I have to go. Mommy told me I could come say hi but I had to come right back. Bye.

A Quick Trip to the Fair...

The fair is a big deal around here in the land of corn and tractors. Phil took a day off Monday, so we took advantage of some free fair passes we had been given. Thank goodness we got in for free, because it was so stinkin' hot that we didn't stay very long at all. We had been so looking forward to an Indiana delicacy--the pork tenderloin sandwich. Unfortunately, we went to the wrong place to get it (we can never remember which one we like the best), and the version we ate was pretty lame! Luckily we had split one in order to have room for other yummy things, so we decided we'd just split another one later if we could find the place we really liked. We walked once around main drag, not really stopping to do anything because we were so hot. By the time we got to our favorite tenderloin place, we were MISERABLY hot, so we decided we'd rather have air conditioning and headed out. Luke was a champ. He did great until the very end when the heat got the better of him, and he started fussing. He was fine, though, once I got him out of the stroller, and by then we were already on the way to the car and the glorious air conditioning! This year's fair wasn't so great for the Tatum family, but we're looking forward to taking Luke back next year when he'll be bigger and can enjoy it more...Hopefully his parents will, too!!

On the way to the fair, a little milk drunk after downing a 5 oz. bottle in the car!


Luke and mommy before the pork tenderloin sandwich...


Luke and mommy after the pork tenderloin sandwich....
Just kidding.
Luke just hasn't learned yet that this isn't the best angle for his chins.

We were so horrified to see that they were actually selling chocolate covered bacon this year...


...that Phil had to have a fried Snickers to make him feel better!
(no, I'm not kidding this time.)

Chubba, chub, chub...

Here are a few new pics that we took to continue documenting Luke's every-increasing chub-factor...He's a chunk, but a mighty cute one!

He still sucks his thumb, but now he's found that sucking on his other fingers is almost as good...so good, in fact, that he often tries to suck on a couple fingers at once or even a few fingers from each had at the same time!




Showcasing his slobbery-ness...







Perhaps he's just trying to look like his Daddy did when he was a baby...


Can you say A-DOR-A-BLE??!!!

Duh...

So since the very beginning, we have noticed and talked about Luke's big feet, especially his huge big toe and the big gap between it and the other toes. Even my Grandma noticed it when we sent her this picture of Luke in the hospital after he was born...

We have continued to marvel at his cute, silly feet as he has gotten bigger, but finally, after living with our little Big Foot for over 3 months, our friend Steve opened our eyes to the obvious...Luke's feet are IDENTICAL to Phil's!!!

When Steve came over to pick up his kiddos, whom we were babysitting for a few hours, he took one look at bare-footed Phil holding bare-footed Luke, and he said, "Luke has the same feet as you, Phil." I looked down at Phil's feet and couldn't believe it...He has that same big gap and the same long toes!! I immediately felt like a dumbo. Why hadn't I noticed that before??? My mom always talks about how she looked at my hands and feet for the very first time and laughed because they were identical to hers. So in the hospital, I looked at Luke's feet and hands, expecting them to look like mine. No dice. They didn't. I can only assume that the exhaustion and shock of having given birth with no drugs made me forget to compare Luke's feet to HIS DAD'S in that moment...and in the past couple months, I have just been too busy looking at my husband's incredibly handsome face to pay any attention to his feet....
Sooooo, at least I have an excuse or two....Phil, on the other hand, does not!!! How has he gone all this time and never thought, "Ya know, that big gap and those long toes on Luke's feet look awfully familiar." I mean, Phil has only looked at the very same thing for 30 (almost 31!) long years, for Pete's sake!!!....How could he have missed that???
I guess, though, that the answer is simple:
He's a dude.

Thing 1!

Smiling at funny Daddy.

Wondering what in the world that hairy stuff is on Daddy's face??

So big! It won't be long before we'll be telling him to get down off the back of the sofa, but for now we thought it was cute to put him up there...and yes, Phil is holding onto him!

...and the obsession continues!

The inspiration...

This onesie (and a cute bib with the same words) was given to us by our friends Scott and Devan. They came up with the name "Tatum Tot" for our baby when I was newly pregnant, before we knew that we were having a boy. This is the first time Luke has been able to wear the onesie, now that he is so HUGE. I might have to break out the bib soon, since he has become such a SLOBBERasaurus. Thanks, Scott and Devan, for your thoughtfulness and generosity!

Speaking of being HUGE, look at the thighs!!!

He's our chubby bunny, our chunky monkey...

I honestly think Luke has gotten chubbier just since Wednesday... look at these cheeks and chins!