Cullen got to celebrate his half birthday at the beach. He’s so lucky. And so much fun! I think it’s safe to say this is my favorite stage so far. He is a smart, adventure seeking, belly laughing eighteen month old. He so much fun to be around and constantly makes us laugh.
Cullen’s favorite activities these days are wrestling, building, coloring, and dancing. He will out of the blue yell ‘wrestle’ and then body slam you. Or he will walk to the middle of the living room floor, lay down, and demand that you come ‘wrestle’. He also loves building with his mega blocks. He yells ‘build’, dumps all of the blocks out on the floor, and gets to work. He will knock over what anyone else builds, but he wants you to play with him. Go figure. Coloring mainly consists of a few scribbles in a coloring book and trying to keep him from eating the crayons, which he finds hysterical. (Side note, have you seen these crayons. We love them!) His favorite song to dance to right now is “Happy”. He claps and sings “yeah” and “happy” right on cue. It may just be the cutest thing ever!
I am constantly amazed at how articulate Cullen is and how many new words he picks up every day. He can repeat and remember just about any two syllable word. And three syllable words are shortened, but usually still recognizable. You can tell he is the child of a math major because he knows what a protractor is and calls it a ‘uhtractor’. He is also starting to put words together. He tells Macey to ‘um ear’ (come here) when he wants to play or thinks she needs to go outside. He says ‘not me’ when he may or may not have done something. And he says ‘get it’ or ‘i get it’ when he wants something. Like with wrestling and building, he tends to announce what he is getting ready to do. Which is super helpful in keeping up with him. He even yells ‘water’ right before he dumps the dogs water all over the floor.
While he makes plenty of messes, he is always eager to help clean them up. If he spills milk, he asks for something to clean it up by saying ‘mess’ until you give him a paper towel. And he loves to point out dirt on the floor I haven’t cleaned. Isn’t that sweet of him?
One of my favorite things these days is how Cullen holds my hand all the time. He holds my hand going up and down the stairs, walking outside, taking me to the pantry for a snack. My heart melts into a puddle every time his sweet little hand reaches up for mine. And every time he blows a kiss or gives a bear hug. I love this little red head more than I ever thought possible!
Happy eighteen months Cullen!