Growing Kids - Sullivan Update, 18-20 Months

Sullivan is 18 20 months old and growing up fast. Faster than I can blog about it, that's for sure. I took photos on my "real" camera, but that was actually a few months ago and sadly, they are still sitting on the SD card. And also, he's grown since then!

Sully is a happy boy. And mischievous. Smart. A good sleeper. A fantastic eater. A blue-eyed, red haired solid mass of energy. And he is very clearly a boy. He is like a magnet to balls, trucks, cars, tractors, sticks, bats, whacking devices. He's tough. He's hefty. He's a "solid" boy, as many are quick to point out. Yes, yes, he is. Durable, as I like to say.

Sullivan talks! A lot. He has so many words I've stopped counting. And he'll repeat any word you offer him, even long, tricky ones. I need to try and get one of those on camera.

He's smart. I know most parents of young toddlers will say this but he seems above average on the inquisitive scale. He's curious in ways I don't recall Cece being at his age. He will watch us do something once and then copy it. He figures things out quickly and intuitively. For example, he watched James plug in a fan and turn it on the other day (it's been hot here!). After we were done using it, we unplugged it from the wall. A few days later, Sully walked up to the unplugged fan, took the cord and managed to plug it into the wall himself and then gleefully turned the fan on (he gets great enjoyment out of making things "work". Later, a large screw on the side of the fan fell off (probably due to kids playing with it) and landed on the floor. I watched Sully walk over and inspect it and then pick it up and try to put it back on the fan where it came from. He didn't manage to screw it back on, but kept putting on the fan until it managed to balance in place. In his little mind he had fixed it. Satisfied, he smiled and walked away. He had no idea I was watching him but it was pretty fun to see. Although, I did make a mental note that most parents would probably do a better job at limiting their toddler's access to open wall sockets and finger snatching fans. Oops.

Sully's first selfie.

He still loves Summit and even though he's gotten bigger and weighs almost as much as Cece does, she tolerates him climbing on her like she's a jungle gym. He loves feeding her, often from him own plate, which is probably why the admiration is mutual on Summit's part. Even though he knows and can say her name, he most often just calls Summit, "doggie" and always greets her in the morning with a big smile and often a hug, too. Boys and their dogs.

He's a dirty kid. Like, always dirty. He is always covered in something. Dirt. Food. Sweat. Boogers. He's that kid. Kind of gross, actually. He needs a bath almost every night, especially now that they spend much of the day outside. And the boy has a special talent for generating ear wax. It runs in the family, actually. Gross, right?

 

 

Good thing all that is balanced out by the fact that he's also pretty darn handsome. His hair is still red, though it may be lightening up a little bit. His eyes are blue and bright. His eyelashes are thick and long. He gets a lot of compliments. And he's almost always smiling, which of course is the icing on the cake. He loves to laugh and be silly. He also loves belly buttons.

He loves his big sister. The first thing he asks for when he's the first one up in the morning is Cece. If he can't find her he literally walks around the house saying, "Cece, wheeeere are youuuu?" It is so damn cute. I'll have to try and get that on camera, too. Even though she is clearly his best friend, he can also be pretty hard on her. Lately, he sometimes hits her for no reason. He's even been known to bite. All very normal toddler behavior, but I have a feeling it will get worse. He loves to rough house. Cece does too, but not quite with the same intensity. They wrestle often but usually it ends with Cece in tears. Not always (girlfriend can hold her own), but often.

Let's see, what else? He loves to sleep. Goes to bed on his own, often requesting it, at 7:30 each night and rarely wakes before 6:30 AM. He loves to nap, at least 2 hours a day and we usually have to wake him up. He Loves, yes with a capitol "L" his binkies. It is going to be an undertaking to get him off that habit. But they make him intensely happy so I don't have the heart to do it just yet. I think we waited until Cece was 2 to do it, so we have a little time. It will be rough though, that's for certain.

He loves to eat. He has an affinity for condiments. Loves hot sauce. Yes, hot sauce. Has a special face he busts out for new tastes. It's on display below.  

 

 He doesn't watch much TV but he Loves, yes again with the capitol "L" the movie Cars. If the TV is on, or being turned on, he will just stand in front of it and point and say "Cars, Cars, Cars" over and over.

He loves the real thing, too. I think he's going to follow in his dad and grandpa's footsteps and be a real "car" guy. It's easy to tell how happy that makes them both.

The best way to describe Sully I think is that he's easy to love. He's generally very easy going. He is a lot less "intense" than his sister, at least so far. He's almost always happy. He's easy on the eyes, even when he's caked in dirt. He's easy to love because he genuinely loves just about everyone he meets. His happiness is contagious. I hope he never looses that talent.

Sully, Mommy loves you very much. I can't wait to see where we go from here! xxxoo

Oh Fun, Sullivan is One!

Sullivan turned one on November 14. Hard to believe it, but it's true. My babies are growing up. He still goes by "Baby Sully" most of the time in our house, but it's hard to deny the fact that he's not much of a baby anymore.

 

This child is such a ham. He has the biggest smile and a pretty cool personality to match. He is a total flirt and loves to snuggle. He gives out "Sully hugs" to anyone within reach. He is a real mama's boy. Totally attached (literally) to me. I mean, I could let go completely and he'll still be clinging to me like a baby gorilla. It makes it hard to get anything done, ever, but it's also hard to complain about being so loved.

He prefers you to be at (his) eye level and will crawl up onto your lap in a heartbeat. He also loves to play with Summit, climbing on her, pulling her hair and her old lady worts and poking at her eyes. She's a good sport.

He eats like a horse and weighs almost three pounds more than his sister did at one. There isn't much I can think of that he won't eat and easily downs three times as much at a meal than Cece. We have also come to the end of our nursing experience. I was happy to try and continue the effort but Sully thought it was amusing to start biting me and so, that was that. It's the end of an era, that's for sure. I loved nursing my babies and it was such a privileged to do it for as long as we could (Cece was 16 months when we stopped). Sully's taken well to cow's milk though (unlike his sister who still won't drink milk, of any kind). If I had to choose a favorite food for him it would be red grapes. Or cupcakes. He really likes cupcakes. Shocker.

Cece and Sully get along pretty well, for the most part. Cece is always asking if we can "put Sully on the floor so I can play with him." They do already bicker over toys and occasionally I find Cece sitting on Sully. He is pretty good at "standing" his ground though, or at least voicing his displeasure over his sister snatching a toy or rough housing with him. He has gotten in a few decent moves on her though and it won't be long before he outweighs his big sister. And his little pinchers can really do some damage.

Even at one, I can tell Sully is "all boy." He is a climber (to be fair, Cece was and still is too) and doesn't seem to be afraid of anything. He also has this weird ability to seek out balls, trucks and cars from any toy pile. He loves to throw things and gets a good laugh about chucking whatever is in his hand across the room. He also loves cables, plugs, lights and the remote control. He LOVES remotes. I mean, loves. them. Even knows how to change the TV channel.

 

Sully can say several words: mama, dada, ught-oh, bye, cracker, bottle. He typically tries to mimic what we say and has a full vocabulary of his own baby babble.

And finally, he's walking! Just a few steps, but he's getting better every day. He'll be running in no time. Side note: it's currently December 6 and I'm just getting round to posting this now but in the two weeks since I started this post Sully's full on walking across the room.

Official One Year Stats:
Height: (I don't remember but I wrote it down...somewhere)
Weight: 22.6 pounds
Clothing size: 18 months
Sleeping through the night (yahoo!) and a great napper
Thick, red head of hair
6 teeth (four uppers, two lowers)
One new small birthmark on his booty
Walking!

Sullivan at 11 Months

Since Sully will be one (!!) in two weeks, I figure I should get these posted. Even though I'm two weeks late, I did take these pictures on his 11 month birthday. So, there's that. Anyway, here's my big, happy boy at 11 months.

At 11 months Sullivan is:

• Pulling up on everything, cruising around the house behind and in his cozy coupe and standing without support for up to a minute. Will be walking very soon!
• Has words. Some are loud and clear (mama, dada, bye) others are loud and not so clear but he is always babbling. 
• Gets VERY excited when he sees someone he recognizes, especially me (kind of always been this way) but now also James (this is new) and also Nana. 
• Eats and eats and eats and eat. He eats a lot. So much. And he also gets very excited when he sees food. 
• Speaking of eating, we can't contain him in his high chair anymore. Cece was never a problem so we took off the awkward harness straps that came with it. Now I know what you need them for. If you turn your back he'll be surfing on his high chair tray before you can blink. 
• He's just as good at climbing ladders too. He can climb to the top of the playhouse by himself and also the attic ladder. He can get in and out of his cozy coupe and on (and drive!) Cece's big Thomas ride on. 
• He LOVES going fast on anything. In the car, in the swing, in the stroller. He is also the first one to go for the matchbox cars, trucks and tractors in the play room. Very strange how attracted he is to those things. Total boy. 
• Recently discovered his "man parts" in the bathtub and is utterly fascinated. Total boy.  

 

• Sullivan loves music. He grunts and dances to it. Cece loves music too so we spend a good amount of time dancing around the house every day. So fun. 
• Sully is getting all four front top teeth right now. Hasn't fussed at all and I didn't even know until I stuck my finger in his mouth. 
• Those teeth have been problematic however when it comes to nursing. We are pretty much down to nursing just 2-3 times a day and as of this week, I'm no longer pumping at work. I plan on nursing him in the morning and before bedtime as long as possible, but he's been biting me (and laughing about it) which is no fun at all, well apparently for him it is. But, ouch! Especially with all those new chompers he has.
• Sullivan loves to play with his big sister and mostly doesn't mind rough play. I often find Cece literally sitting on him and he's just going with it. It won't be long before he is bigger than her though so she better watch out.   

 

• He's been sleeping pretty good lately. We finally moved him to a real crib (poor kid had been sleeping in a pack and play for 10 months) in his own quieter room downstairs. It's helped a lot, although he still typically wakes up once around 2 AM and wants to nurse (for comfort). Then he's up at 6:15 AM every morning. Like clockwork. But he puts himself to sleep each night which makes bedtime a little bit easier on all of us, especially because Cece has become a real problem lately at bedtime (more on that soon).
• Sully is just really fun and pretty much always cheerful and easy going. He has shown though that he can genuinely get MAD when he doesn't get what he wants (usually food, or mom). I wonder how this will present itself as he gets older. He seems like he know what he wants and he is going to let you know he wants it. Not that there is anything wrong with that. He's my kid after all.
• He's a big boy. Haven't weighed him lately but I''m sure he's over 20 pounds and he's wearing mostly 18 month clothes and now, real shoes too! 
• He has one big head of thick, red hair. And, got his first haircut this month (so did Cece!). 
• Sully literally leans in for kisses. It's the best!

Sullivan, you are a bright shining star. Love you, buddy!

Sullivan at 10 Months

Sullivan is 10 months old (and then some). I am a busy mom, I just cannot keep up with my growing children (literally).

This boy. Oh my, this boy. He has my heart all wrapped up in those chubby little hands. My children are different. Well, let me say this at least...my babies are different. Sully is not the same baby that Cece was. I'm not saying Cece was difficult, but now as I think back on her first year I have to be honest, it was hard. It wasn't all her, of course. Much of it was adjusting to the whole parenthood gig which is enough to throw anyone (everyone?) off course. But anyone who spends a little time with us can tell pretty quickly that my children have different dispositions. Cece is all fireball and Sully is sweet tea. I have no idea where those analogies just came from but they are the first things that came to mind and certainly describe these two pretty accurately. I love them both.

At 10 months Sully...

-  Has two teeth and the beginnings of several more.
- Eats like a HORSE. Easily outdoes Cece at every meal. Isn't picky at all, I hope that stays!
- Says "dadda" and many other "words" that I can't quite make out. He's very verbal.
- Loves to wave hello and goodbye
- Cries major tears every time I drop him off at daycare. Oh my heart.
- Has a affinity for swings, bumps and anything speedy. A true boy.
- Is solidly standing but still needs to hold on to something to balance. Starting to cruise.
- Is wearing mostly 18 month clothes
- Does not sleep through the night. On a good night, the longest stretch is about 5-6 hours.
- Is still nursing and lately has started to BITE me. No, no, no. Ouch.
- Loves the boob but only tolerates a bottle. It can take him 3 hours to finish a 4 ounce bottle at daycare. 
- Loves Summit.
- Loves Cece.
- Loves mommy the most. It's hard to complain about that, even if it means I literally get NOTHING done when I'm home with him.
- Is in the "everything goes in my mouth" phase. Has pooped out grass, rubber bands and lots and lots of sand.
- Is terribly photogenic because he's almost ALWAYS smiling. And, did I mention the hair?
- Will snuggle with anyone, anytime. I hope that lasts forever and ever.

...and since it's taken me 10 and a HALF months to write this update...he's also now walking with the help of Cece's shopping cart. It won't be long before he's off and running!

Oh Sully, you are my favorite little boy. I love you so.