milestones – Things Held Dear

First Day of Preschool

September 6, 2016

Today was Cullen’s first day of K-3. We signed him up back in January, and for at least the first four months, he mentioned every day that he was going to kindergarten and he told everyone he saw. He has been so excited, we thought this day would never get here.

I expected Cullen to jump out of bed this morning ready to hit the ground running, but like every other child going to school today, I had to drag him out of bed. (He is taking this whole threenager thing seriously!) But once he was up, he was ready for his big day. When we got to school (our church) he ran right into his classroom and didn’t even tell me bye. Way to break your Mommy’s heart, kid!

I did a lot better than I thought I would. It was a little strange leaving him, but Colette and I distracted ourselves with a trip to the grocery store, and before I knew it, we were on our way back to pick him up.

The only details I got about his day included a story about a bee on the playground (but he didn’t get stung!), they had a snack, and did a craft. I want so badly to know every detail about his day. I guess I will settle for soaking up the little bits he does share and accept that this is part of him growing up.

After such a successful first day, I am so excited for the rest of his first year of preschool and all of the things he will learn!

Eight Months

September 21, 2013

A lot has changed over the past 8 months! I looked at Cullen the other day and realized that he is definitely not my little baby anymore. He has started to look and act more like a little boy.

Cullen’s biggest milestone this month? Crawling…or his version of it. He doesn’t really move his hands and knees at the same time. He looks like a little inchworm. Or, He moves on his hands and feet with his rear-end stuck up in the air. I’m not sure that he will ever move in the traditional ‘crawl’. I have a feeling he will go from what he is doing now straight to walking. While it may look kind of funny, this little boy can move! (Especially if he spots a dog toy or something else he is not supposed to have.) There is no keeping up with him now. I was changing his diaper before bed the other night and no sooner than when I got the wet diaper off, he rolled over and crawled halfway across the room. Stark naked…and laughed the whole way. Silly little boy!

He can also get to sitting from his tummy. Yay! No more frustration from being stuck on his belly.

Cullen is also getting pretty good at pulling up and climbing. He tries to pull up using whatever he can get his hands on, and is doing pretty well with it. Every person, chair, and toy has the potential of being a jungle gym. We had to lower the mattress in his crib this week.

He is already getting into all kinds of trouble. Like I’ve said already, we have to be on the lookout to keep the dog toys away from him. (Macey does not help by bringing her toys to him to play with. Isn’t she sweet?) He is now also pulling things down on top of him. We have had to remove everything from the coffee table since he can reach it very easily. (He got his first bruise under my watch last Sunday. Mom of the year right here!)

Another new development over the past few weeks…loud noises are scary. He jumps and clings onto the nearest person when I use the blender, vacuum, or start the car.

Cullen also got his first cold this month. I thought I was having some allergy issues until Cullen started having the same runny nose and sneezes. Poor guy…he was miserable for a couple of days. I think that was when he stopped sleeping so well at night. I feel like I have a newborn again. Since he was about two months old, we were getting at least 6 to 7 hours of sleep a night and more recently he was sleeping about 8 hours straight. Now all of a sudden he is up at least twice every night. If I could sleep in with him in the mornings I wouldn’t mind so much…but this momma is exhausted! Any ideas? I’m hoping he will outgrow this quickly.

Right now, Cullen is eating about two ‘solid’ meals a day. Usually breakfast and dinner, but I think he is about ready to add lunch. He is still eating mostly purees. We keep trying to introduce Puffs or chunks of food but he is a little hesitant. (Anything else he finds goes right to his mouth, but for some reason he won’t put food in his mouth. Go figure.) So far he has eaten two Puffs. Macey has gotten about 20 Puffs. I have a feeling the high chair is getting ready to be her new favorite hang-out. So what is he eating? Bananas, avocado, apples, pears, peaches, plums, summer squash, zucchini, sweet potato, carrots, parsnips, and green peas. Still, the only thing he refuses to eat are green beans. I think next we are going to try yogurt and hopefully start introducing more finger foods instead of purees. He will figure it out when he’s ready though.

And at 8 months, Cullen’s unofficial measurements: 19.8 pounds and a little over 28 inches long

Did you notice the pictures are a little different this time? Yeah…we tried. Twice. He was having none of it. He refuses to sit still and is convinced the chalkboard is a toy. I think someone is trying to teach me that I cannot control everything. Oh well…we still got some pretty good pictures of this cutie!