Cullen @ 5 Months!

I'm pretty sure Cullen is on track to pass his brother up on the scale. Weighing in at 21 pounds, he's only 8 pounds less than his 2 year old big brother and is currently wearing 9 month clothes (and already busting out of some of those)! I'm thinking he's got to start leveling off one of these days...

This month I've been trying to remember the little things, Cullen's quirks that will likely be replaced by something new next month. Like the way he squishes up his face and dives into my neck when he laughs, the way he kicks excitedly and rubs his eye with his free hand when he's nursing, the way he can go from whining to belly laughing in the same breath, the way he squeals at me when I peek in at him in the morning, the way he tucks his chin[s] in when he concentrates so hard, the way his eyes light up when he makes eye contact, the squeals and those rolls. Oh, those rolls.

Here's a little update on a few of Cullen's favorite things:
eating       
Cullen continues to be a very good nurser, although he's pretty distracted these days. He jerks his head around toward every noise he hears and wants to see everything going on around him, so nursing sessions that don't take place in his quiet bedroom are usually pretty short. (Short but efficient!) He's getting so big and so wiggly that I feel like I'm feeding a child much older than 5 months... *sigh* 

Cullen hasn't started eating any solid foods yet, but he does sit up in his high chair with us while we eat now and Avery has been up-graded to a seat on a big chair! 

sleeping             
Since the beginning of the month Cullen has been sleeping in his own crib in his own room. He still sleeps swaddled and with a fan for white noise. I can't for the life of me figure out how to transition out of the swaddle, so he may be sleeping in one until his first birthday!  Avery is a tummy sleeper so once he could roll over, I put him on his tummy to sleep and it's been [pretty] smooth sailing ever since but Cullen wants nothing to do with that tummy-sleeping business... 

Although his sleeping pattern has gotten MUCH better than last month, it's still pretty unpredictable. This last week, there were a few nights that it took me 2-3 hours to get him down to sleep (to stay asleep), but other nights that he was down for the count after only 20 minutes. He will typically sleep a big 6-7 hour stretch only getting up once or twice to nurse but every once in a while we still sometimes spend some long early morning hours awake together (when he thinks that 4 am is play time!) Overall though, my sanity is happy to report that sleeping continues to get progressively better. (After reading back on Avery's 5 month post, apparently Cullen is doing much better than his big brother at this age!)

Most of the time, tummy time is a group activity. Avery loves to roll around on the floor with Cullen and Bella never misses an opportunity to lay her head on the blanket. Cullen LOVES to stare at Bella and works so hard to creep towards her to catch a feel of her soft fur

playing            
Cullen's day includes lots of tummy-time, bouncing, sitting up working on his abs, learning lots of tricks from Avery, stroller/bike rides and many miles worth of airplane rides from mom.
Cullen rolls from his tummy to his back all day but isn't interested in rolling from back to tummy yet. He has a very strong core (or maybe it's the solid set of rolls?) and so his preferred position is sitting. In the last week or so he's gotten considerably more stable and can adjust his balance so he doesn't fall over nearly as much :) 

Even more than sitting, Cullen LOVES bouncing in the jumparoo. I think he would bounce in this thing all day if I let him. He's such a happy boy when he's in it and his chunky little legs just go, go, go :)

chewing         
This boy chews everything. All the time. His toys, his fingers, his toes, his bottom lip. Anything that nears his mouth goes into it. I don't see any teeth popping through anytime soon, but they've got to be working their way up! 

Hugs, kisses, belly-showing-off, and wrestling... so much brotherly love :)

avery          
Cullen continues to adore his big brother. As long as Avery is in his line of sight, Cullen is a content boy. His eyes lock on Avery and he laughs at everything he does. (In turn, Avery loves having such a responsive audience - "Cullen, look! Cullen! Cullen! Look, Cullen! CULLEN!" ;) Avery continues to be the sweetest big brother of all time. He makes sure Cullen always has something to chew on, loves to make Cullen laugh and gets really excited when he hears that he is awake from his nap. When Cullen cries, Avery tries to anticipate what he needs: "hungry, mama?" "nap, mama?" 
Avery and Cullen now take baths together! It's pretty cute watching them play and splash around in the water.

We have so many good days and some tough days too, but it is the highlight of my life seeing these two together and watching them grow. I sure am one lucky mama :)

Click here to see Avery @ 5 Months

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Dreaming of sandy beaches...

 A portrait of my Avery, once a week, every week, in 2014

 With summer already coming to a close (school starts here on Monday... what?!) we finally booked ourselves a little family vacation to the southern shores of Lake Michigan. We've been getting pretty excited about it and I think all of our talk about the beach has got Avery craving the feeling of sand between his toes. He turned his sand table into a full-body activity this weekend and ended up with sand in every crevice. Our getaway can't come soon enough - we have to get this boy out of the table and onto the beach!!

Linking up here

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King of the Fort

A portrait of my Avery, once a week, every week, in 2014

This week, Justin fulfilled one of his fatherhood dreams and spent many hot hours building Avery his very first tree fort! If you know Justin, you know he doesn't take building things lightly, so he made numerous trips to Menards and then hauled all this wood out to 'the woods' near our house and build this awesome fort - all by himself!

After naptime, he took Avery out to their new hangout and they spent the rest of the afternoon hunting bugs, collecting sticks and spotting Curious George and hippos in the branches above ;)  As if Avery didn't think his daddy walked on water before, he's now reached an even higher level of awesome. I forsee many fond memories being made in this peaceful little spot in the trees!

Seriously, people. Does your heart not grow 3 sizes when you see these two together?!

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All boy.

A portrait of my Avery, once a week, every week, in 2014

Avery received this little bobcat for his birthday and it has become a favorite of my tractor-loving boy. The bucket goes up and down and hauls rocks, dirt, grass, pigs, cows and whatever else his imagination comes up with from day to day.

With all the construction happening in our neighborhood this summer, Avery now points out bobcats (his personal favorite), cranes, dump trucks and cement trucks by name and continues to get crazy excited when he sees or hears one coming down the road. 

He's all boy, the sweetest one I've ever known. 
And with this new haircut, he looks older than ever.

Linking up here

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Dancin' and Cruisin'

A portrait of my Avery, once a week, every week, in 2014

Yesterday was one of those magical summer days that made me wish it would never end. The weather around here lately has been heavenly, mild and sunny and perfect for a picnic so early in the day the boys and I did just that. We met up with some good friends, took a little nature hike in the woods and snacked on a blanket under a tree. After naptime, we headed out as a family to 'Dancing and Cruising in the Streets'- a downtown street festival that included bands playing on numerous stages, a car show, and a balloon artist that makes really good cows. It's like this festival was created for Avery! 

It brought so much joy to my heart to see how outgoing and independent Avery was all evening. He chose to have his face painted and sat like such a big boy while a mustache was painted on (he was a hit with the crowds!), bounced and slid down the inflatable slide fearlessly with the big kids, danced with his sweet reckless abandon and posed in front of a car for a photo (so much progress!) He had a blast! (his stone-face stare in the photos is him showing off his mustache, he was very aware that it was there and thought he was pretty cool ;)

At one point toward the end of our evening, Avery noticed his buddy Gage had a spider painted on his cheek so he decided he needed one too. My usually shy and reserved boy walked up to Justin for a ticket, walked over to the painting tent all by himself and found a girl holding a poster of available images to paint. He pointed at the spider, handed the girl his ticket and walked with her to the table to have the spider painted on. When it was finished he walked back over to us and was SO PROUD of his spider (I think he was the most proud that he had done the entire process all by himself!) Moments like this remind me just how big my sweet little boy is getting... it's sneaking up on me way too quickly.

After the boys were in bed, we capped the night off with a couple of adult beverages.

This day was exactly what I needed. :)

Cullen is Four Months old!

4 months... FOUR MONTHS! This boy is growing so fast and does something new every day. He continues to be the sweetest, most go-with-the-flow boy ever and we are having so much fun watching him grow into his own little personality.
Cullen weighs in at 19 lbs 5 oz and is 26.25 inches long. His well-baby checkup today went great but apparently was pretty boring, he fell asleep in my lap waiting for the nurse to come in and give him his shots (what a rude awakening that was!) Naturally, he took the checkup and shots like a champ and is as healthy as can be.

Although he is back to being healthy today, this last week was a rough one for poor Cullen. On Wednesday night, he woke up with a high fever and I spent the next two days consoling a very uncharacteristically fussy and uncomfortable baby (so. much. crying...) and the next two nights rocking and worrying. No sleep makes baby feel even worse and mama feel like a zombie. Now that his fever has broken, I'm hoping we can get back to our regular nightly routine. (It's amazing how a little perspective can make getting up every two hours to nurse seem like a good thing!) I'm thinking he caught a little virus of some sort and he will continue to feel better, I can't stand seeing my baby so miserable. Although with his drooling and chewing on EVERYTHING, I'm sure cutting teeth is just around the corner. It's always something, right?

Up until this last week, Cullen's sleeping habits were like clockwork (the predictability was awesome). He woke up at 8ish, napped from 9:30-10:30, 12:30-2:30, and 5:30-6:00 and was ready to go down for bed at 7:30-8 (although it usually takes a good hour to get him to actually stay asleep) and he's still been getting up to nurse about every 2-3 hours.

This month,Cullen enjoyed his first hotel stay and pool swim in Cadillac MI, his first trip to the beach (Warren Dunes Beach on Lake Michigan), his first go in his exersaucer and bumbo seats, his first bath with Avery, his first sickness/fever and doses of Tylenol, and he finally got to meet Grandma Jodi and Grandpa Richard!

Cullen now giggles and 'talks' all the time, Avery is still his favorite and they both get so excited to see each other every morning :) Cullen has taken to chewing two fingers (or anything that gets near enough to his mouth to chew on) and drooling everywhere. He is happiest in the morning and crankiest when he doesn't get put down for a nap on time. (or has to be strapped into his carseat)

Cullen loves to be upright - sitting, being held to look around, anything that allows him to see everything going on around him. He's getting so close to sitting by himself and he loves to bat at/grab toys that are within arms reach. He is SO much more interactive than he was last month, and loves when someone is up in his face singing, talking, making funny faces - pretty much everything a certain 2-year-old I know is really good at :)

Avery thinks it's really funny when Cullen hits the toys on his tray  |  Avery checking on Cullen in his hotel crib

Yesterday, the day after he turned 4 months old, Cullen rolled over from his front to his back - 3 times! And while big brother Avery colored on his hands with a red marker in the background, I got his second roll on video:

At this rate, he'll be taking off crawling after Avery in no time.
Take your time, sweet Cullen, your mama's not quite ready. :)

Avery's 4 month post here (check out his two-finger chew like little brother!)

**Also, for those of you still reading, while Cullen hit a milestone this week by rolling over, so did Avery! He peed on the potty for the first time!! He told Grandma Jodi that he had to pee and she took him in the bathroom. He kicked us both out, closed the door and 5 minutes later came running out yelling "mama! mama!!" so I rushed back to the bathroom with him and sure enough, he had peed - IN the potty! (after being in there by himself for 5 minutes - naked - I didn't know what to expect) So we did a little potty dance and celebrated with a sucker (he was SO proud!) We haven't had any repeat performances yet, but I think he's really starting to figure it out. Yay Avery!!

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Feeding time in the aviary!

"A portrait of my Avery, once a week, every week, in 2014"

This week, we were lucky to have Justin's mom and step-dad here with us. It was their first time meeting Cullen and Avery thoroughly enjoyed all the playtime :) On Wednesday, we all made the drive to the Indianapolis Zoo! It was everyone's first time there and we had the best day checking out the new orangutan exhibit, scouring the zoo for a hippo (Avery kept insisting we see the hippos... and the zoo had NO HIPPOS!), and feeding the birds in the aviary. Avery was so careful with the birds and was so proud to be able to hold the stick and feed them himself. I'm pretty sure he could've spent the whole day in that aviary :)

We are all so excited that grandma and grandpa are moving closer to us in just a few short weeks!

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Blackberry Boy

"A portrait of my Avery, once a week, every week, in 2014"

This week, the weather was absolutely perfect in Indiana: mid-seventies, sunny and no humidity. We spent most of the week doing nothing but playing in the backyard and eating our meals on the porch. My favorite. Last Sunday, we went on a little family adventure to the blackberry patch and picked a bucketful (and ate twice as many). Avery ran quality control and ended up with the cutest little berry face and hands (and t-shirt, who puts their child in a white tee to go berry picking?!)

We spent our 4th of July down the street with friends. Avery was sort of out of it all evening, but he and his buddy Max tried out some sparklers and watched Justin shoot off some small fireworks. It was a beautiful day spent with friends, and Avery's first real experience with fireworks, which seemed to be a hit! :)

Linking up here

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Under the weather.
And a pancake.

For the first half of this week, we got to spend some long-awaited time with Justin's sister and brother and their families. Avery was ecstatic to have his cousins around, I've never seen him give so many kisses! 
Unfortunately, toward the end of their stay Avery came down with a little sickness complete with a low-grade fever, cough, runny nose and overall uncomfortable-ness. He took extra-long naps (probably due to his restless nights) and wanted to do little else but cuddle. We spent the remainder of the week/weekend laying low around the house, watching movies and having picnics in the living room. 

Avery's snack of choice while watching The Jungle Book: leftover pancakes. One of the positives of being sick - eating what you want, when and where you want it. :)

Linking up here

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Buried

"A portrait of my Avery, once a week, every week, in 2014" 

This last week Avery, Cullen and I tagged along with Justin on a 3-day work trip to Cadillac, Michigan. It ended up being sort of a bust because the weather forced us to spend most of our time in the car or in the hotel room (not so fun with an active toddler and an infant that isn't so fond of his car seat). The day we drove there was beautiful and thankfully we stopped at Warren Dunes State Park on the way for some fun in the sun. It was our first trip of the summer to Lake Michigan and Cullen's first trip ever! Avery loves the beach and by the time we left he had sand in every crevice, was soaked in lake water and worn out. It was a beautiful day.

There's something about the sounds, sights, and smells of a big body of water that just soothes the soul (wading in the waves with a beautiful sleeping baby on your chest doesn't hurt either :)

Avery dug a really big hole with dad, buried himself in it, then walked fully clothed into the lake for a swim!

Cullen spent his first trip to the beach riding around in the sling with mom, taking in this new place until the sound of the waves lulled him to sleep. I could've walked that shoreline all day.

Linking up here

Cullen's 3 Month Close-Up!

Since Cullen was born, he's had a grumpy scowl concerned gaze on his face while he's been awake. I've always just said he takes life very seriously and is set on taking in everything around him. Let's face it- everything about this world is a lot to take in to a little guy (especially with a big, fast, loud brother all up in his face all the time!) Now that Cullen's smiling muscles are working and he smiles and giggles all the time, his face totally transforms and lights up a room. I had a great time taking these photos and while I was shooting he gave me plenty of smiles and laughs but I wanted to be sure to capture Cullen's 'signature look' as well - I think they're both equally adorable :)  This little man has so much personality already!

 

It's only a matter of time before these gray eyes turn brown!

And because I love to look back and remember what Avery was like at this age, here's a couple of comparison photos (it's totally a coincidence that they are posed almost exactly the same!)

Avery on the left, Cullen on the right - both at 3 months

And of course a photo shoot isn't complete without a few brother shots - Avery continues to adore his little brother and Cullen loves to watch and smile at everything big brother does. I can't get enough of these two!!

I'm still in awe of the fact that I got this shot.
Sometimes the stars align and the shutter clicks all at the perfect moment.

My heart runneth over.

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That giggle.

"A portrait of my Avery, once a week, every week, in 2014" 

Summertime has been getting the best of us lately (in a good way!) and since we've been having so much fun, I've been taking more photos than I can keep up with. I have yet to sift through pictures from Avery's birthday party (which was already two weeks ago!), we've had some fun with family visitors, and last week I did a quick '3 month' photo shoot with Cullen that I can't wait to share. Of course Avery had to get in on the action, giving me lots of priceless shots of the two brothers together and lots of giggles from my usually camera-shy big boy. I can't look at this photo and not hear his contagious little giggle.

...and by accident we discovered Avery's favorite show of all time.
Here's a little preview:

Linking up here