11 months and still no teeth

Are You Thankful?

A conversation in the bathroom:

Tatum, going potty: "You know momma, one day I am going to have to go bye-bye."

Me: "What?"

Tatum: "Soon...Hazel and I will have to go, but you and daddy will have to stay here.  You and daddy will be crying.  And you'll say 'noooo', but we have to.  Hazel and I have to go."

Me: speechless - stunned

Tatum: "Are you thankful?

Me: "Am I thankful?"

Tatum: "Yes, are you thankful?"

Me: "Yes, I am.  I am very thankful."

Goodness! My three-year-old daughter is already prepping me for the day she'll leave the house.  I assume this realization came from her watching and understanding the plot of Toy Story 3.  Andy had to go to college, and one day Tatum and Hazel will too.  We have 15 years before any of that happens, and I am thankful.

Happy 7th Birthday Drew & Ethan

Nice Hair Haze!

LaLa and A Visit LA for a Day!

Recently my mom and step dad had a layover in LA for a night.  So, to make the most of their 20 hour visit, I picked them up at LAX, took them to work for a few hours, picked up the girls, and spent the evening trying on new dresses and receiving other great gifts including this homemade blanket before I took them back to a LAX hotel for the night.  Yep, that's right, LaLa and A sewed this greatly loved and appreciated Rapunzel blanket.  So they flew in and flew out but it was an awesome evening together.

Tatum the Teacher

A new night-time ritual has come into our lives, Tatum now chooses friends to read to each night before turning out the lights.  Check her out:

This ritual came from Tatum's desire to reach a story to Andrew and I each night.  While we greatly enjoy listening to her read, the event could sometimes go on for a very, very long time.  So, when asked to sit down for a story, I asked Tatum to read to her friends instead.  I chose mother-daughter combo animals (the big and little turtle, horse, and bear) and tucked them into the foot of her bed.  She was super excited by this new adventure and immediately assumed the role of teacher, "okay students, are you ready for a story?  here's the book, here's the title..."

Halloween Festivities in Pictures

Month started out by making our own scare crows.  One bail of hay will make several scarecrows, no need to buy two.

Our finished scarecrow, no head...until Halloween

Our Pumpkin among the pumpkins. 

carving pumpkins

the scarecrow gets a head

off to a halloween party - turns out we were the only ones dressed up.  no worries, we had fun!

Tatum's preschool gets ready for the Halloween parade, and I left work to join them.

The Parade!

The Witch, The Black Cat, The Pumpkin, and The Scarecrow - we went very traditional this year!

Tatum's best friend Lorelei comes over to join in our neighborhood Halloween fun.

Treat or Treating in Montrose Business Park

And look who we run into - Mika! Tatum's other BFF at school.  Jet is Mika's older sister and she likes to refer to these three as Small, Medium, and Large. 

Hazel is Nine Months

Camping Adventures Part II: Joshua Tree National Park

Okay, after getting Hazel's feet wet with a little beach camping, we couldn't refuse the offer to join friends in Joshua Tree National Park and get in some desert camping this summer as well.  Go ahead, play the U2 album in your head as you continue to read this post and view the pics. 

As you may, or may not, remember, last September was the first time I ever left Andrew and Tatum for more than night and joined old and new friends to camp in Big Sur for a weekend.  I joined up with friends I hadn't seen in 10 years since my travels and study in India.  Since that trip, the changes of life has brought one of my Indian friends to California so after not seeing Alex for 10 years, I am starting to see him a few times a year, and Joshua Tree was one of these trips.

Alex flew in from Oakland, we picked him up, packed up the car, and left for the desert to join eight more folks, only one of which I had met before, David.  David had traveled out the night before and secured three sites for the weekend.  We shared food, camp sites, beverages, laughter, and stories.  One of the families that joined us had two sons Fisher (5) and Bodhi (3), so Tatum was delighted to have playmates.  And Joshua Tree is the perfect place to play.  Jumbo Rocks provide a playground of imagination and physical challenges.  As you can see from the pics, this place is magical.

Jumbo Rocks under a full moon - our home for the weekend

The Three Campsites - that's our tent on the lower right corner

Sunset light on the rocks

Happy Campers

New Friends and New Adventures - it wasn't as steep as it looks...

Playing at Camp - notice the RV, that belongs to the boys and thier family.  Andrew and I are now convinced that is the best way to camp with young ones. 

Joshua Trees in Joshua Tree - Blue Skies

Camping Adventures Part I - Leo Carrillo State Beach

What an adventure this was.... Leo Carrillo is located in Malibu and about 40 miles away from where we live.  Our family friends Jack, Sadie, Molly and J provided us their camping reservations for a weekend in September, reservations that require you to book six months in advance.  Their calendar no longer allowed them to go, so instead of forfeiting the site, I stepped up like any good friend would and offered to take the reservations off their hands. 

I took the work week to prepare for our first family camping adventure since Hazel's birth.  Laundry on Monday and Tuesday, Trader Joe's on Wednesday, packing Thursday and Friday.  Andrew had his list of to dos and to buys and so did I.  At 4pm on Friday with the car fully packed and strapped, we headed down the road to pick up Tatum from preschool and make the drive to Malibu.   We hit the 101 with a ton of enthusiasm, but not a ton of speed.  Andrew mapped our directions on the way and we opted to take Route 23 over the Santa Monica Mountains to Malibu.   We followed our exits, and this state route road turned into a curvy, undeveloped, two-line mountain road that we figured would take FOREVER to drive.  In a passion of frustration at myself and the road, we opted to turn around and drive back down the highway three miles to the Kanan Dune Road and cross over to camp that way.   This road is four lanes with three tunnel passes and definitely the way to roll to Malibu.  As we ascended the mountain passes and descended into the Pacific Coast Highway, our anger and anxiety that had ascended descended away and we were rolling content and happy into Leo Carrillo State Beach. 

We checked in only to find out that our friends had booked a handicap camping site, which requires a valid handicap placard to stay.  Being that we are not handicap, and the entire campground was fully booked, we had two choices: 1) go home or 2) pay for a day-use pass and hand out on the beach for the evening.   Since we had already gone through an anger-inducing frustrating experience just to drive here, we had no more anger and frustration in us.  We laughed, "Of course! Of course it's a handicap site and we can't stay the night."   The only carrot getting Tatum through the whole drive was the reward of having cheetos at the campsite.  So we bought the day pass, opened two beers and a juice box, and headed to the beach with the bag of cheetos.  Tatum had the best dinner of the summer season that night.  And all things considered, it was an awesome night for Andrew and I as well.  We rejoiced in the rare oddity that our dear friend Sara was in possession of a valid handicap placard and she was willing to share it with us for the weekend.  We resolved to return in the morning.

We polished off the cheetos, and returned back over the mountains to swing by Sara's and get the placard, and return home to grill out for the night.  On the return Tatum amused us by singing a new song "I am special, I am special, take a look, you will see, someone very special, someone very special, and it's me, and it's me!"  She didn't care that we were camping that night, she had her cheetoes and was super cheery as a result.  When I took her to bed she said, "tomorrow we will go back to the beach, and then we'll say 'bye beach we have to go camping now' and then we'll go camping."  That was the plan.

In the morning we returned to Malibu and had camp set-up by 9:30am.  There was a light rain, but it didn't matter because we were so happy to finally be camping.   Our camp was the best site we've had to date, no neighbors, totally spacious, and near the beach access.  It wasn't until I went to get water at 5pm that I realized we were totally camped in the wrong spot.  When we checked in that morning the ranger told us site #116, take your first right, then right again.  When we entered the park, we took a right, and the immediate next right was a handicap spot, so I just automatically assumed it was us.  Turns out it was site #2, not #116.  For fear of being kicked out of our site, I went and checked in with the Ranger and explained my confusion.  At first he stated that we needed to move, so I begged that we not given the roller coaster we've been on the past day with even trying to get to our site.  So due to a Junior Ranger making a mistake on another person's reservations, we were able to stay put.  Geez Louise!

So enough saga, we loved our time camping.  Tatum got a new purple sleeping bag for the trip and slept on a sleeping pad, which was new for her.  Hazel took Tatum's old spot, which is the pack and play.  Andrew and I treated ourselves to an air mattress, and we are super excited to have made this car camping upgrade.   We walked around the campground, played at our site, read books, watched a thunder & lightening storm come & go, and played in the ocean.  Memories were made and Hazel had her first camp experience.

My Princess and Her Demands

If you know Tatum, she is full on princess, and if you know me, I'm not.  I wear jewelery, but I by no means accessorize; something Tatum is already in love with doing.  I've long had an aversion to the fancy and the fanciful.  Beautiful material things just aren't my thing.  But they sure are Tatum's, and she's my girl, so I'm learning to value what she finds important and support her in her pursuit of happiness. 

In the days before I had two girls and knew nothing of mothering other than my judgement of other moms.  I was certain that my child would not be a princess child.  And if she were, then by no means would I indulge her tiara and tutu obsessions.  But as any mother knows, motherhood can be defined by a series of days turned into years of eating your own words. 

So here I am today with a 3.5 year old whose name begins with "T-A-T-U-M" (Ask her what her name starts with, and this is her response) and each and every day the girl demands to wear a dress.  And no, not just any dress, a dress that spins.  "How about this dress Tatum?"  She cries "NO! That dress doesn't spin.  I need a dress that spins!"  And you have no idea how hard it is to find a dress that spins, but LaLa and Mimi sure do :)  Fortunately Tatum is reasonable (for a three-year-old) and adheres to limits and rules (most of the time) and she understands that spinning princess dresses can only be worn on the weekend, not on preschool days.  Why?  Well, then she would wear the same three dresses day in and day out.  Plus, this rule makes the weekends special because she can put on her Rapunzel (spinning purple dress), Aurora (pink spinning), Snow White (navy spinning with a big white color) or Tinkerbell (actually a full-on Tinkerbell costume). 

In the theme of Princess, Tatum loves everything girl: nail polish, purses, shoes, dresses, jewelry.  Once, stopped at a red light in our neighborhood while driving, Tatum complemented on the woman who was crossing the street, "Oh momma, look at her.  She is so beautiful.  I love her dress, and her shoes, and her purse.  I want to buy that."  Not sure where Tatum got this line "I want to buy that" but it is standard phrase of hers used daily when she encounters something she likes or wants - cars, dogs, dresses, houses, pretty much anything.

When she has her nails painted, you know.  She'll stop you on the street to admire you, be it your earrings (oh, I like your earrings, my momma doesn't have earrings, but I like your earrings), your dress, your nail polish; and then she'll hold out her hand and take off her shoes to show you her nail polish.  This is full-on Tatum and has nothing to do with me or Andrew.

But I must admit, I can be a bit self-conscious of the whole thing as a mother.  However, it totally helped me when my feminist-environmentalist-androgynous-anarchist friend came over a few months back and helped put Tatum to bed before we had dinner.  For the first time I felt embarrassed of how much princess stuff we do have as Tatum went to bed in her princess nightie and princess pull-ups after playing around with her princess suitcase.  There is no denying it, I've welcomed Disney princesses into our lives.  She smiled at Tatum and related to her that when she was little she loved to dress up as a princess and go to Disneyland.  Whew!  Well, here's the proof, right here in my daughter's bedroom, a princess at five can still be a feminist at forty.  And this somehow made me feel better about the embracing of it all. 

So, my advice to a mother recently regarding the princess phenomenon in our daughters is to embrace it, embrace that our children want to be beautiful and delight in their delights.  The road ahead in the parent-child relationship is sure to be filled with battles, but princesses should not one of them.  Our girls are special and deserve to live a life of happily ever after, but right here and now.  So put on the tutu and the tiara and let's have tea!

Up and At It

About a week after my last post, Hazel figured out how to scoot her knees along with her hands and started crawling.  So at seven months we had a crawler.  And in almost the same day she mastered pulling herself to a stand.  This little lady has things to do, and she's not going to let her age and development milestones get in the way.  Now, at eight months Hazel is standing on her own for a few seconds at a time and continues to develop the leg strength to start walking soon.  My mother started walking at 9 months, to which my grandmother described as "completely ridiculous, a little baby walking around."  And I feel the same way.  Hazel, slow down, take it easy, these precious times of infancy will be over soon, and there's no need to rush them away.  Nevertheless, she is waving goodbye as well as hello and giving out high-fives - she's pretty darn proud of herself, and so are we.  Oh, little hazy razy we love you and we'd love it if you would take it easy. 

Growing up - checking in

Well hello there fine friends and family.  Sorry to keep you hanging for so many months.  Yes, we have been busy growing kids and working our careers.  In another week Hazel will be 7 months old and is a VERY busy baby.  She's mastered sitting, reaching, the all-four rocking, the left-to-right and right-to-left roll, eating solids, and is on the verge of crawling.  I keep reminding the little Hazel that she is just a baby and there is no need to rush these developmental milestones, she'll be walking for the rest of her life, she doesn't need to start now.  Last week I went in to the bedroom to check on her crying in bed; I found her grasping the crib rail for dear life and standing.  Oh no!  So out went Hazel into Andrew's arms and down went the crib mattress by a notch.  Oh my goodness. 

Hazel Rae eating peas

Meanwhile, Tatum is sometimes obsessed with getting big.  Perhaps this is because she is now permanently cast into the "Big" sister role, but man, she doesn't need to rush.  Two funny stories on this: 1) every week we attend the South Pasadena farmer's market with Molly, Jack and Sadie; and every week we get papusas and lemonade.  Near the papusa stand is a candy stand that sells cotton candy and snow cones.  One week Tatum spotted the blue and pink sugar balloons and requested that she have one.  I explained frankly "Oh, you have to be five to have that.  You are not five.  You are three"  (side note, I patted myself on the back for this rationale because she bought it without question). Now she longingly looks at the stand and states, "When I am five, I can have one of those."  This week she said, "Why do you have to be five to have that?"  She's getting smart.  I replied, "Oh that is the age limit.  There are age limits on lots of things in life."  Questioning my response she concluded "I don't like age limits. But when I am five I will like age limits."  HA!  2) The other night we were taking a shower together before bed.  Tatum looked at me naked, then checked herself out.  "Mommy, look, I am getting boobies.  When I get big I will have big boobies!"  Oh goodness, girl!

And Tatum Bell does what she pleases

It's Panties Time!

YAHOO!  FINALLY!  Tatum has made the toddler leap from diapers to panties!  Round of applause, please.   Yep, we are two proud parents to one proud pantie-wearing princess!
Tatum had been wearing pull-ups for about six months now, but not as they were designed.  Her use was more for a designer diaper.  Oh well.  As you may or may not remember, we bought Tatum a potty for her Christmas gift in 2009 when she was about 18 months old.  Since that time sitting on the potty was more of a fun past-time than a practical endeavor. When I first went on maternity leave at the end of December I kept Tatum out of preschool for a week with the hope of potty training her.  We went to Target where she picked out two packs of panties - one Dora, one princesses.  The next day we dressed her in a pair of Cinderella panties and let the pea fall where it may.  That morning we decided to make cookies.  While stirring together the flour Tatum peed all over herself and the chair she was standing on.  Her reaction "oh, I went pee-pee."  It was an after-the-fact observation, and we knew then that Tatum lacked the mind-body connection to know when she had to pee or poop.  We stuck to the training and cleaned her up and put on another set of panties.  An hour or so later she pooped in them.  Yep, it was clear, she wasn't ready to make the leap.  She was crying and frustrated, and so were we.  So, just four hours into our first day of training we resolved that Tatum wasn't ready for panties and we put on a pull-up.  All parties were happy. 
During the past few week of preschool, her teachers informed us that Tatum was showing interest in the potty.  Since her best friends were all on the pantie-potty train, Tatum was succumbing to the benefits of peer pressure and she too wanted to wear panties like her friends.  But wearing panties means you have to go pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty.  

One morning I got a text from Andrew that Tatum went pee-pee in the potty and he was sending her to school in panties.  AWESOME!  But wait, did he remember to pack back-up panties and clothes and shoes and socks? Nope.  Oh well.  When I picked her up she was in a pull-up.  We weren't pushing it at all, so any achievements were rewarded and there was no frustration towards her accidents.  So we were back in pull-ups for another week with no expectations, but yet hopeful. 

We created a reward system: one jelly bean for a pee-pee, two for a poopy, and a sticker for trying.  

So, last Sunday we decided along with Tatum that she was ready to put on panties full time (minus sleep times).  We put on a pair of princess panties and turned on her weekend morning DVDs.  After two hours Tatum still had not gone to the potty.  So we stuck in on the potty in the bathroom with the condition that she had to go before we went to the Sunday market.  Forty-five minutes later there was pee-pee in the toilet and a smile plastered across Tatum's face.  YES!  Since that moment we haven't turned back. Tatum has had one accident and the days keep passing by with jelly bean rewards.

"I don't want to go pee-pee on Belle!"  "No, no pee-pee on Belle, that's right Tatum."  "And I don't want to go poo-poo on Belle either!"  "Absolutely not."

We are absolutely pleased.  We'd much rather spend our hard earned money on a case of beer than diapers!

Side story - the other day I was on the potty going pee-pee.  Tatum walks in and exclaims, "Momma, are you going pee-pee in the potty?"  I nodded and smiled yes.  Tatum cheered and clapped "Yeah Mommy, you're going pee-pee in the toilet!  I am so proud of you!  Do you want a jelly bean?"

Back Rubs

Ah, yes, back rubs.  Most of us can remember the days when our moms rubbed our backs.  And if you are lucky, you still have a mom that does!  Andrew and I both remember the nights of our adolescence when our days ended with the gentle caress of our mother's hand on our backs lulling us to sleep.  As we got older, back rubs seemed to disappear somewhere in the puberty years when our bodies were transforming and we no longer longed for our mother's caress quite like that.  But today I would love nothing more than my mom to come and rub my back at night.  Instead I settle with my current dutiful role as a mother to a daughter who recently discovered the love (and need!) of back rubs. 

Recently Tatum started asking for back rubs at night: "Rub my back momma," she spoke gently to me one night.  I smiled and started to rub her back.  "No, not like that.  Like this," she said as she pulled up her night dress and corrected my hand placement from over the top of her nightie to underneath.  I agreed, yes, skin to skin is much better.  And in that moment a new habit was formed.  Now it has become routine each night for her to ask for her back to be rubbed.  Sometimes she requests her hair to be rubbed and in return she rubs mine at the same time.  Her nurturing side is strong, and I adore the moments she chooses to nurture me.  Last night as I tucked her to bed she grabbed my face with both hands and stroked the sides of my face, from my forehead to my chin, over and over.  She said to me, "Momma, your face is SO beautiful."  Oh sweet pea, thank you.  Then a moment later, "I love you so much mommy."  And I love you.  "Momma, your forehead is so beautiful."  Thanks Tatum...now it's time to sleep. Ah!

Pickle People :)

 

Portrait of her preschool teacher Ms. Angela by Tatum Bell

In William Crain's book Reclaiming Childhood he states that art is one of four areas of importance in helping children be, well, children.  I read his book when I was pregnant with Tatum and consumed with the idea of being a "good parent" and the important role of childhood experiences in nature,  Nature is one of the other four areas of focus.  As for the other two areas, you'll have to read the book to figure those out!  Nevertheless, Crain writes at length about the development of artwork in a child .  One recognizable stage of development is when they start drawing what I refer he refers to as pea people - a circle with eyes, a mouth, and four lines that come out for arms and legs. I was excited as a parent to see Tatum develop this artistic ability herself, although her version is more of a cucumber person than pea person.   Artistic development is refined over time and eventually kids become "standardized" as they grow older drawing people that look like people.   But right now, in the Shearer house, cucumber people rule.

Just because she's cute...

TATUM turns THREE

That’s right – Tatum is THREE!  We celebrated the day by letting Tatum dress in her Tinker Bell dress and wear a birthday crown.   (No, the photo above is not the Tinker Bell dress, sorry.)  We took a morning walk to the bakery where Tatum was given a special cookie by the baker for her birthday.   Tatum was also given a second cookie by a customer who thought she was adorable and wanted to give her a birthday surprise!  I love stranger kindness!

We then went to Tatum’s preschool where we gave a book to her class in honor of her birthday.  This is a great cake alternative for parents who want to have a classroom celebration but do not want to load fifteen  two to three year-olds up on sugar.  So, we walked in a 10:30am, which is circle time, and I read the book to the class and then gave it to the teachers as a present.  Tatum then put a homemade yellow chocolate dinosaur sucker in each friend’s cubbie for their present.  Yes, I was one proud momma.  Homemade chocolate suckers are super easy once you get the molds and sucker sticks.   If you are local, then Jane’s Cakes and Chocolates here in Montrose can hook you up with everything you need. 

On the way home I got the idea to stop and have Tatum’s nails painted.  Just two weeks ago we went out to dinner and Tatum took her markers and colored in her nails instead of drawing on the paper.  So I realized that she is now 3 and a magical world of “+3” opens up and this includes nail polish.   The first place we tried could not take her – heartbreaking!  But fortunately there was another salon three doors down that was more than happy to paint a three-year-old Tinker Bell’s fingers blue in honor of her birthday.  So happy in fact that the woman would accept payment since the experience became her gift to Tatum.  She too had a daughter who’s birthday was that day and she was so delighted to have had Tatum come in for her nails to be done.  Again, loving the stranger kindness.

We happily went home with blue nails for our afternoon nap.  When Tatum woke we heading out to Josalito’s for our favorite Mexican and then to Paradis for our favorite icecream.  All of this within walking distance from our home!  We still feel like we fell into a pot of gold with this house. 

Nicki with the girls

My dear friend from graduate school came into town on Friday night to help prepare for Saturday’s party.  And thank Buddha she did because there is no way I would have been able to do it without Veronique’s help.  We were up until 11pm drinking wine and making purple frosted cupcakes. In the morning Veronique started the task of squeezing lemons to make homemade lemonade for the party.  We threw together a ton of pasta salad and organized the outside for a fun noontime party with friends, flowers, slides, sippy cups, and pizza.  We ordered from the local pizza joint that has the largest pizza – 36”! – seeing is believing, so here it is.

The party was awesome.  Best of all, Tatum was able to share the day with her friends in her house, the clubhouse that is: 

Tatum was showered with love and gifts.  Our friends and family are so generous, and we are so thankful.  Tatum now has everything a princess could possibly want… THANK YOU!

Moving through May

Wow - May!  The month of our marriage and the birth of our first daughter.  It's also the month of Saga Dawa, the holiest of Buddhist holidays.  At home, our veggie garden is growing, the roses are in bloom, and the girls are getting big.   This month has been squeezed full of exciting moments - Hazel's giggles and smiles, Tatum drawing "Ts for Tatum" and learning just yesterday "H" for Hazel,  Hazel's ability to now reach and grasp, the birth of two new friends (my friend Sara had her twins born May 15th - Tess and Miles!), Tatum's potty adventures, and soon to be our nine year wedding anniversary where we plan on hiring a real babysitter!
 
Life is guaranteed to move, and baby does it move fast.  Now that I am back to work it seems that the experience from Monday morning to Thursday night is one big hustle and to do list.  I've kept my schedule of Monday through Thursday in the office and part days from home on Fridays.  There's just no way I could bring myself to work in an office on Fridays anymore.  And fortunately, my work isn't fighting me on this one.  Seems like they really need me and enjoy having me back in the main tree seat.  At a recent meeting with the other forestry nonprofits and city agencies I received a round of applause for being back to work.  That experience was very validating; and as a working mother in my thirties, I'll take validation where ever I can get it, including on the freeway.   Last weekend a man tried picking me up from his stakeside truck by honking and asking me for my number as I cruised the 2 freeway home from work.  Seriously!  I guess a carseat is not a turn-off.  Yes, crazy, but in a very real way this random man totally validated me, and I am thankful.

At the beginning of this month I was given the opportunity to lead the Mom's Salon - this is a group of mothers meeting every second Tuesday of the month at the community acupuncture clinic in eagle rock at 8pm (yes, if you are local and want to come, you should!).  My friend started this group out of the need to create a protected space to share experiences of mothering.  Sorry dads, moms only.  So my topic was on teaching mindfulness to children.  But in preparing for the topic, I realized that you can't teach a child mindfulness unless you as the teacher have an experience of it yourself.  So I took the Tuesday evening as an opportunity to share a lesson in basic sitting meditation with a focus on the breath as a tool to develop mindfulness (basic Buddhist stuff).  But it was AMAZING for me to share this with other mothers and talk about how mindfulness can help your experience of parenting.  As anyone who knows me knows I would love nothing more than teach mindfulness to children while exploring the local environment, but the opportunity for this "dream job" has yet to present itself.  Yet that particular Tuesday night at the Mom's Salon was a precious reminder of what it is that I really want to do and it felt really good to be reminded.  So, in the meantime, I practice mindful parenting as best as I can with my two princesses Tatum and Hazel. 



The other exciting news is that the clubhouse is now painted.  Honoring my English ancestry (my father and his line are British if you didn't know) we selected the Queen's Lace (yellow) and the Queen's Jubilee (purple) for Tatum's house.  It is now officially "3520 1/2".  Come over and play!