Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Cullen - 6 Months Old!




Cullen got a clean bill of health at his 6 month well-baby checkup on Monday, weighing in at 
21 pounds, 9 ounces
and 
28 inches long
- in the 97th percentile for both! I know he's going to start to plateau one of these days, so I'm going to cherish those chubby cheeks and thighs before they turn into long skinny running legs like his big brother :)

Cullen's whole life thus far has been one big growth spurt and he is on the cusp of a few pretty
big developments. He's working on popping out a couple of teeth, he watches everything his big brother does very closely and will be fully mobile any day.

Cullen barrel rolls all over the place these days and can pretty much scoot his way toward whatever he sets his sights on (which is usually whatever Avery is playing with.)
He can also turn a 360 on his tummy in 10 seconds flat (I timed it ;) and although I still put him
This just in: Cullen chews on
everything. EVERYTHING.
on a blanket to play, he finds his way off it in approximately 13 seconds and is off getting into something that I swear was far enough out of his reach. (Baby-proofing is proving to be even harder the second time around with a sneaky toddler depositing rocks, acorns and 'jewels' in every corner of the house)

Now that Cullen is all up in Avery's business during playtime, Avery has been doing a really great job being patient with his little brother and including him in whatever he's doing. This doesn't mean that Avery doesn't sometimes get frustrated or territorial but he's generally a very kind and gentle boy. Even when Avery does snatch toys away, Cullen is such a calm dude he doesn't even seem to mind
(he sometimes even laughs when Avery takes his toys away (what?!) we'll see how long that lasts.) I love that they're starting to play together more, it's so fun to watch them interacting all on their own and the giggle fests fill me up with happy :)
 


Cullen is still smitten with his buddy, Bella and lights up whenever she comes near him.

Cullen and Avery take baths together and are so cute playing and splashing around in the water.

Cullen naps once in the morning and once in the afternoon (and occasionally once in the early evening depending on how his afternoon nap went.) Sometimes I'll get really lucky and both boys will overlap naptimes, but it's becoming more likely that they take turns. This doesn't give me much time for myself, but it's nice to have a little one-on-one time with each of them every day.
In the evening he goes down to sleep around 8, but sometimes wakes up 2 or 3 times before he settles into sleep for good. Once he does, he usually only gets up once or twice during the night before waking up at 7-7:30 am. AND he no longer sleeps in his swaddle! He moves around so much now that he was just feeling confined so I put him in a sleeper one night and *bam!* he slept just fine. I should've known he would be so cool with it, silly mama.

Cullen nurses to sleep and about every 3-4 hours during the day. He's a very efficient eater which is the biggest difference I notice between him and big brother. I swear I spent HOURS nursing Avery during the day, but Cullen is in-and-out in 5 minutes

flat. Even putting him down for a nap only takes 10-15 minutes, something that took WAAAAY too long with Avery.

Cullen has started to experiment with some purees. (I was REALLY excited to pull that Baby Bullet back out!) So far, he's had sweet potato, pears, peas, banana, and a little rice cereal. His favorite is bananas and his least favorite is the rice cereal (I couldn't even get him to keep 2 spoonfuls in his mouth, he spit it out! I didn't mix it with a fruit or veggie though, maybe that would help.) He wasn't super excited about eating 'solid' foods at first, but now he gets excited when dinnertime rolls around and we put him in the high chair.



Overall, Cullen is at a really fun age right now where he is just so happy-go-lucky about everything and is learning and growing way too fast. He has been having a few fussy days here and there which leads me to believe those teeth are on their way to the surface and Avery is keeping a close eye out for them ;) Stay tuned for updates of Cullen on the move (also known as Mama Get Your Running Shoes ;)

The happy boy with the last remaining evidence of his first bruise - right between his eyes
(thanks to a ill-placed lego block when Cullen took a dive for the floor one day)

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