Cullen is growing up so fast these days. He speaks in sentences. He runs. He plays like a little boy. He is incredibly rough and strong. Just last night, he played Roly Poly with James for what seemed like forever. Cullen calls it Poly Poly, and his version usually involves body slams and kicks.
He loves pretty much everything about Christmas. He loves the trees and the lights. Until today, I also thought he loved Santa. Around our house, we have dozens of Santas. We tried to explain to Cullen that our wooden ones were hand carved by Papaw, so now he just thinks that Santa is Papaw. We took Cullen to see Christmas lights on Sunday night. He slept through it all. James and I enjoyed the lights and drove home.
Cullen is also in love with my new car. I remember James' cousin once telling me a story about how her then 2 or 3 year old daughter loved her new minivan. How Lauren actually sang louder and more happily. I get that feeling now. Cullen calls it the new car, the big car, or Mommy's big car. He is beyond fun, and I am loving his refreshing attitude about car time. I just hope it sticks around.
We are working more on potty training these days from the perspective that Cullen will now ask to go potty every fourteenth time he needs to go. That might even be a generous estimate. When he asks, we run to the potty and wait. The one time it wasn't a false alarm, he managed to pee all over me, himself, and the floor. All I could do was thank him for telling me he needed to go and making it to the toilet. Then I started the laundry. Now he likes to prepare for such emergencies by holding wads of toilet paper.
This week is Cullen's last week of school until after the new year. I wanted to make something cute for each of his teachers, so I decided on homemade goodies. Who doesn't love malted chocolate chip cookies? I boxed up a dozen for each of the teacher's at Cullen's school, wrapped them up, and gifted them with a handmade gift tag complete with Cullen pictures. I was pretty proud of my creativity.
In total, I made 25 dozen cookies. All but two of those cookies left our house bundled or boxed in some form or fashion. They went to Cullen's school, my office, and James' office. From what I hear, Cullen cashed in on quite a few cookies at his school by "sharing" with the teachers.
This morning was Cullen's Christmas party at school and a Santa visit. Cullen was thrilled when I showed up. He walked me around the room and introduced me to his little friends. He was so excited that he was going to get to see Santa. He even told me he was going to ask Santa for a truck. I think James taught him that one, but I'm not sure.
Here's a little peak of Cullen dressed up for Santa in his precious sweater. He was standing in the hallway, whispering in my ear about Santa, trucks, and teddy bears.
Then came Cullen's opportunity to see Santa. He wanted nothing to do with it. He climbed onto Santa's lap all on his own while tears poured down his cheeks. He wanted the bear Santa was offering, and I think he was willing to do whatever it took. In between sobs, he even thanked Santa for his bear.
Better luck with that picture next year. Now I'm wondering if I need to hide all of our Santas before he sees them again. I don't know if he's going to lash out or see that they're different. Cullen is also not really taking to the whole Baby Jesus story for Christmas this year. I'm hoping for better luck with both of those next year. Until then, we'll focus on smiles, family time, and presents.
xoxo ashley
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