Letter to Cullen on his 1st birthday

Cullen,
My sweet, cuddly, stubborn and adventurous boy. These past 12 months have been such a joy...you have brought so much to our family. You were the easiest baby I had ever heard of...my gentle giant

2 months

3 months

4 months

7 months

and then you started crawling and developed a feistiness we had never seen in you and you have become my adventurous, stubborn one. You love exploring any and everywhere and you want what you want when you want it. 

You have developed selective hearing already...a skill you learned from your brother I'm sure. You love to eat...just about everything. You're more of a momma's boy than your big brother ever was. 

8 months

9 months

Some of your favorite things are steps...you love going up and down a hundred times. Any transition in the flooring (from carpets, to wood or a rug). Falling forward off of things. Food. Being in the water. Snuggles. Sitting in your brother's big boy chair. Throwing a ball and crawling after it as fast as you can. Dancing with your head.

One of my favorite things you do is when we get in the floor with you, you crawl to us and put your head down and rub heads with us...sweetest thing ever!

10 months

11 months

Some of your least favorite things are having your eight teeth brushed. Having your diaper changed in the morning before you nurse. When brother pushes you away from a toy you want to share. And you're not a huge fan of being in the church nursery yet, but hopefully soon. 

We are so blessed to have you Cullen Isaiah. Happy birthday my sweet little cuddly one...I look forward to every new memory we have in store.

Love,

Mommy

Rylan: 27 months

-You have counted to 7 a couple times on your own...don't really know what inspired you

-You've been forward facing in your car seat for about a month now. Well, you've been forward facing in daddy's truck for a while now, but mommy finally gave in after you said, "please turn me around mommy." How can I resist that?

-You have learned to take your pants and underwear off by yourself...you have put your pants on by yourself a couple times, but still need help most of the time.

-it's like talking to a little adult now..."no, I don't want to do that" or whatever we ask/tell you to do; "I want to read Cinderella and the dragon"; "I'm a mean dragon"; "I want my blue cup...no my red cup!"; "I want cheese itz"; "I'm alright"; "I wanna give baby Cullen a kiss"; "go outside on the deck"; when I tell you I love you lately you say, "no, I'm a big boy" I'm not sure how me loving you endangers your big boy status. You say, "because...(insert any given explanation in order to have your way)" You definitely know what you want and how you want it. 

-You know your colors

-You have started putting your shoes on the right feet most of the time now...you used always put them on the opposite foot. 

-Lately you have been saying: I always do that or this when we tell you not to do something ..."I always throw the ball," "I always put on deodorant," "I always say that," "I always cry," etc

-You sometimes wake up saying no repeatedly...my guess is you're having dreams where things aren't going your way

-You love to draw on your chalkboard and have started enjoying coloring in your colorbook, and on... my windows, the kitchen floor, etc when I'm not looking. 

Some sweet and funny stories:

-We went to the park a few weeks ago and you tried to help a little girl who was trying to climb up the slide by holding your hand out to her. This same day some bigger boys were playing and told you to get off their space ship (the play area) and you just stared at them...the mommy bear in me started to get mad, but I remembered that they are just little boys using their imaginations. You sat down and finished off you chicken nuggets and juice, so I don't think it bothered you at all. You gave me kisses and hugs in between bites...you are such a sweet boy and mommy loves you with all her heart!!

-Another funny story: At the grocery store a couple weeks ago I let you "be free" and didn't buckle you in. You were constantly moving the entire time..."I turn this way and this way, now this way, I turn this way," over and over again you'd sit with your back against the side of the buggy and you legs stretched out in front if you then you'd switch sides about every second...It was pretty hilarious and a bit frustrating at the same time since I was trying to shop...not only was this a distraction, but I had to go pretty slow so you wouldn't fall out. You also turned completely around in the buggy (sitting on the handle) and grabbing anything you could reach and pulling it out. The perks of shopping with Mommy because Daddy would never let you get away with all this. 

Cullen: 4 1/2 months

-You hangout in your exer-saucer a couple times a day and seem to enjoy it.

-You have started the teething process...more fussiness, drooling, biting down on whatever you can get in your mouth and lately you've been waking up in the middle of the night.

-You have really stinky gas which I don't remember your brother having.  

-You weigh 20.5 lbs and are 27" long. You are wearing 12-18 month clothing.

-You still smile most if the day and you laugh a lot. You are my jolly baby.

-You don't like to sleep much. I think part of that is due to teething, partly due to your older brother yelling and playing all day and maybe some of that is you. 

-Daddy said you rolled over for him this past week. I'm a little jealous, but you rolled over for me today :)

Thoughts on motherhood/parenting lately

-nursing is one of the best things ever: soothing a baby in almost any situation and helping mommy burn calories 

-knowledge is not necessarily power...I feel like a more informed parent this time around, but it makes me more stressed knowing more potential dangers. I'm sure if I have a third I will be more informed then too...that kinda happens naturally.

-having two little ones is A LOT of work...never much time to rest unless I let things go, like the house...which I'm doing right now ;)

-time is going by so much faster with Cullen than with Rylan...he's gonna be 1 in no time it seems :(

-I'm pretty sure my sweet Rylan is acting out lately due to jealousy. He never shows any jealousy toward Cullen directly, but he acts out a lot in defiance and whininess.

-I used to want Rylan to want his mommy more, but now that he does...it's exhausting. 

-my days are filled with spit up, dirty diapers, many trips to the potty to "supervise" and keep Rylan company, feeding Cullen every 2-3 hours during the day, feeding Rylan and cleaning up his messes, trips where I weight lift 20 lbs and then 30 lbs repeatedly in and out of car seats in and out of strollers and when nap time rolls around (if Cullen is cooperative and if I can resist relaxing or watching tv) then I try to tackle laundry or cleaning up one or many of Rylan's tornado messes. Life is busy, but it is fun most of the time. Rylan keeps me laughing and Cullen's sweet snuggles and smiles are just what I need when I feel like I'm at the end of my rope. I love my boys so much and wouldn't trade my life for anything. I don't think there will be a third little Heck anytime soon though. I have my fill right now :) 

-I can't think of anyone better for me than Cameron to experience parenthood with...he is such a wonderful daddy. Always making time to play with and snuggle with his boys. Every day he gets home from work he can't wait to hold Cullen or play with Rylan. I can't imagine doing it without him. 

Cullen: 3 Months

*You sleep till somewhere b/t 5:30-7:30 each morning

*You LOVE to be talked to...you smile so big and show off that dimple that mommy loves

*you have started having some gas issues that makes your tummy hurt...still not as bad as your big brother had so we're happy about that

*You do not like bottles and won't eat more than a couple ounces from one and you don't like nursing under the cover either...makes our outings a little tricky or short

*You haven't liked your paci for a while now...you prefer your hand. It sounds painful, but you love sticking your fist in your mouth and sucking away. We think you'll suck your thumb, but who knows

*You are still very easy going and hardly ever get upset...I wonder how long this will last

*You are becoming more vocal...you love to interact with us when we talk to you, coo at you or whistle

*You are wearing 6-12 month clothing and weigh close to 20 lbs now...my gentle giant

Rylan's Birthday Weekend

Friday, on his actual birthday Cam stayed home for the first part of the day

We relaxed and had a good birthday breakfast

Then we went to Bridgestreet and bought a new hat and sunglasses since mommy forgot to bring his

We shared an icy drink at Lime

Ate a cookie with some of the aunts

Saturday, we celebrated Catherine's birthday party and had SO much fun on the inflatables

And getting new toys...and three pieces of cake (since he dropped the first two...I was a little distracted)

Fun pic of all the kids at her party

Sunday, Rylan's circus theme party (favor table)

Cam's mom made this beautiful cake

In our cicus attire

Opening LOTS of gifts

Enjoying some of those gifts :)

Cullen: 2 Months

*You love to be held. You demand it a lot of the time.
*You love to be talked to.
*You have a pretty set schedule...you wake up around 4 or 5 to eat and usually will go back to sleep for a little while
*You usually give the most smiles in the morning.
*Unlike your big brother you fall asleep very easily at bedtime, but you also wake up earlier. You're my early morning bird and big brother used to be my night owl.
*You still nurse fairly often...every 2-3 hours during the day.
*I catch you watching me walk around the room sometimes. I'm sure I'm a big blur from that distance though.
*You're wearing 3-6 and 6 months clothing.
*I love when you're smiling and you wrinkle your nose...such a beautiful smile. And you try to talk to us sometimes. You move your tongue back and forth and open your mouth pretty wide. Sometimes you'll say "ahhh" or something like that.
*You enjoy warm baths like mommy...and you even enjoy your face being wiped off with a warm cloth...you just smile.