The Tatum Tot: Christmas, Numero Uno.

We went to Atlanta for the first part of Christmas to be with Phil's family. We had such a good time. We spent the first few days in Duluth at Phil's parents' house just hanging out and finishing up the last odds and ends of our Christmas shopping. Then on Saturday we went to Phil's grandfather's birthday lunch where we saw tons of the extended family that we don't get to see very often. Luke got to meet some of his relatives for the first time and was definitely a big hit!

Chillin' with Papa T. at the party.

Sitting with Nanny (Phil's grandmother) and getting a little overwhelmed by all the people.

Recovering with Daddy.

Uncle Reuben helps Luke open his present.

Mmmm...this is a tasty new toy!

Fully recovered and enjoying lunch.

After the party, we drove up to Phil's parents' mountain house in Sautee and celebrated an early Christmas. The whole family was there, and it was a blast. We had a yummy dinner and opened presents, then played games and watched movies until the wee hours. Luke was in bed for most of the festivities, but he still had a great time playing and running around in his walker during the day. He was loved on by everybody and was certainly the highlight of everyone's Christmas this year!

The whole Tatum clan in the mountains.
From left to right: Peggy (Phil's mom), Stanley (Phil's dad), Beth (Phil's youngest little sis), Brian (Joanna's fiance), Joanna (Phil's middle little sis), Brandon (Emma's husband), Emma (Phil's oldest little sis), me, Luke, and Phil.

Santa Baby with Aunt Jo Jo...

...and with Auntie Em and his best friend, Yellow Man.

Reading "Mirror Me" with Aunt B. and thinking that seeing himself in the mirror is the greatest thing.

Aunt B. is so funny!

Hanging out with Uncle Brandon. Luke was much more into it than Brandon was.

Luke loves Uncle Brian.

Playing with silly Papa T.

Christmas is so fun!

The love birds. Getting hitched in May!

Brandon and Emma playing our new game with us.

Joanna and Mama T. looking through cookbooks.

Phil with his new football and Tech sweatshirt, wishing he could be a quarterback when he grows up.

This walker was Luke's favorite thing all week. It had a mirror on the other side of Elmo, and he'd just look at himself and squeal with laughter. Then he discovered the long hall from the living room to the front door and he spent hours just running up and down the hall, chasing us and playing hide and seek. It was the most adorable thing.

Talking to Grammy on his way to the hall.

And he's off!

Go Lukie, go!!

Yes, we see you, big man.

Turned around and headed back, for the 67th time.

Making a lap through the kitchen.

Taking a minute to play peek-a-boo with Mommy through the window.

Peek-a-boo, Lukie Lu!!

Watching Bubba, the neighbor's dog.

Petting Bubba with Daddy.

After we got back from the mountains, we made a little trip to downtown Atlanta one day. We had lunch and went to the Georgia Tech bookstore to get a few things.

Luke was such a big boy and even ate his own lunch with us at the restaurant. He flirted with the ladies at the table next to us and had our waitress won over in no time. She was especially pleased when she saw that he didn't make a big mess for her to clean up!
(Notice Yellow Man joined us for lunch, too.)

Huh? Where am I?
Why, Luke, you are on the streets of Atlanta, surrounded by millions of big shiny buildings, tons of overpriced restaurants and bars, and more traffic than you have ever seen in your life. This is why we don't live here.

In the GT bookstore with Daddy. Go Jackets!!!

The day before we left, we went to visit Papa T. at work. He owns and runs a forklift tire company and works in a greasy shop that he shares with Hill Tire, a truck tire company. Sherry is a really sweet woman who works for Hill Tire and has a 15-month old little girl named Natalie, who she brings to work with her most days. Natalie and Mr. Stan (Phil's dad) are big buddies. She loves to play with him and especially loves to see the "baby" on the computer. She says "Baby?" in her sweet little voice, and Mr. Stan takes her to his computer to show her the latest pictures of Luke on our blog. She oohs and aahs over each picture, and it tickles Mr. Stan to death. He's told us about Natalie so much that we wanted to meet her and thought it would be fun for her to meet Luke. Well....it didn't go as well as we'd hoped. Natalie is a wee little thing. She is very petite and weighs about 21 lbs. Luke, as most of you know, is not the slightest bit petite, weighing in at 26 or 27 lbs. these days. He was bigger than little Natalie by far, and his constant loud noises scared her to pieces. He loves to hear himself talk and even yell out, and does so often. They are happy noises, but they are pretty loud...He is such a boy. Natalie is all girl and was not pleased to be subjected to such an enormous, loud, scary being. It was not long before she was crying and wouldn't get near Luke!

It started out ok. She saw him and said, "Baby!"

He got excited to see her and squealed in delight. She was not amused.

Her mom and dad tried hard to convince Natalie that Luke was just a sweet baby who was excited to see her, but she didn't buy it. She finally reached out for Mr. Stan and said, "Baby?" He said "Oh, alright," and took her to look at the quiet little baby on the computer!!