Cecelia at Twenty Two Months

Only two more monthly posts for my big girl! I still can't believe she isn't even two years old yet. She acts like she is fifteen and regularly informs me that she is 'five.' Cecelia is one of a kind and I love her so much, am slightly afraid of her, and her giant mood swings seriously affect our days more than I could have imagined. Let me explain.

First, let's get the bad/scary parts of Cecelia's personality out of the way. This child is probably very normal since she is a girl (emotional) and almost two (can be terrible), but we feel like we are walking on egg shells with little miss some days. Truman NEVER had 'terrible twos' or many tantrums. He's a level-headed guy for the most part, although he has his own quirks, and I honestly do not remember true tantrums from our first born. Therefore, Cecelia is really breaking us into the concept of fearing a child's wrath. OMG. #TinyDictator

Sad


Curious. So many feelings within 5 seconds.


Let's pretend that Cecelia is obsessed with chap stick like her mother. Then let's pretend that her father declares 'No more chap stick shall be had by our children! There are smears of the disgusting waxy stuff everywhere!' So, alright, mom can handle that new rule. Until I have to physically pry her fingers from my favorite chap stick while kindly explaining that 'this makes messes, but let's go color instead.' Or some other measly attempt at distraction from the pending doom that is an upset toddler. It did not go over well.

A few weeks ago, this very scenario happened and Cecelia proceeded to lose her mind for a solid 30 minutes straight. I *think* it was that long, but I lost track. She hit Truman in the face when he squatted down to her level to lovingly ask, 'Tell me what is wrong CC. What can we do to help?' She swung her little hand at me, too, when I sat her in timeout for brother abuse. And then she flung herself on the ground and refused to sit on the 'time out' step on our stairs. She cried, and cried, and cried. Refused to use her words and talk it out. Basically she was the hottest of all messes and Truman and I were totally freaked out.

Of course I snapped a video, too, duh. What loving mother wouldn't? ;)

We ended up letting her process the demons on her own while we started a bath upstairs, as there was nothing to be done. Eventually I think she wore herself out and I convinced her to come and see Truman in the bath, while fearing she'd provide me a shiner for that suggestion. Surprisingly she pulled through the epic emotional low of losing her chap stick privileges and even cracked a few smiles later that night. Of course, this was an evening of solo parenting which made me feel EXTRA awesome as a mother.

This story just goes to show you that second-time moms really have no freaking clue what to do with a child who has a different personality than their first. I mean, I'm eating a few slices of humble pie when dealing with Cecelia's tantrums while I say a prayer for patience. It's not easy to watch my sweet daughter melt into a puddle of anger over the littlest things. I realize she is frustrated because she things are not turning out the way she wants. She CAN communicate her needs so well to us, but sometimes it's like she just gets overwhelmed with feelings and cannot process anything else. All I can do is attempt to redirect her, love on her, 'respect her feelings', and try to talk her off the ledge.  It might be some developmental stage, or her 2 year molars (two bottom ones are poking through), or who knows what. Life is hard at 22 months, you guys. This I now know.



One other horrible event happening with Cecelia right now, and then we will move on to the GREAT stuff (which makes up the majority of her personality, thank God): Sister hates diaper changes. Like, woah. When she poops (and she has a very healthy GI system, it seems, so this happens more than daily) she will deny it's existence to avoid the inevitable change. When I finally convince her that the deed needs to happen, she squeezes her cheeks together so hard that it's nearly impossible to wipe her butt. I apologize for being so graphic, but WOW this girl has thighs of steel or else I'm getting really weak at my old age. She hates the cold wipes, I'm sure, and will begin screaming at the top of her lungs as I try to clean her tush. So basically, mark this one down as another 'Pretty Sure Someone Will Walk By Our House, Hear Her Screaming, and Call CPS on Us Someday.' It's really that bad and I've broken a sweat when changing her, for sure. She doesn't have a rash or anything. She just really hates to be wiped. Potty training seems like even more of a headache right now but maybe I will just go for it sooner than later if this nonsense keeps up.





Tantrums over life not going as planned, and tantrums over diaper changes. Do you sense a theme here? Wine would greatly improve my ability to handle these things, guys.

BUT! It's not all bad stuff this month. This is real life, so I must spend time on the nightmarish parts of our days. Luckily her random emo tantrums don't happen every day and 95% of the time, Cecelia is a total gem. We'll take the good with the bad, of course, and chalk it up to her being our little fighter from the very beginning of her life.

And life with a toddler is just messy, anyway.




Cecelia is a social creature and loves to be around other people. She shines in public, plays well with other kids, and likes to smile at strangers. She has the most infectious laugh.  I think she is happiest when we are out running errands, exploring the world, and playing outside---although that hasn't happened much this winter. Someday, my girl, we will breathe fresh air all day long again! She loves daycare and even on the day when Truman didn't come inside with her, since he was sick, she marched right in without her brother and had a ball with her buddies. I was worried she would be confused going to Lori's without Truman but nope! She loved it. Good thing, since she will be one of the oldest AND the only girl at Lori's this fall once some of the older kids start Junior Kindergarten. I still can't believe it's her turn to be the big girl at daycare.

CC with a few of her buddies at Lori's on a pajama day:


She is also going through an adorable phase and likes to pretend she is a 'baby' after her bath. She has me wrap her up in the towel, and I get to carry her into her room like a baby. The child eats this up and I do, too, obviously! She isn't a huge cuddler so this is my time to soak her in! I suppose I do get a few unprompted hugs and kisses through the day that also make me weak in the knees, so I can't really complain. But my girl is usually too rough and tough for that sensitive stuff.

We bought Cecelia her first bike this month, after Truman got a bike for his birthday. Little miss has to do everything her big brother does, so this 'early' birthday present for our girl made sense. She's practiced her balance bike a few times in the basement and seems intrigued, although she isn't a huge fan of her (adorable) helmet just yet.



She is our little athletic bruiser and enjoys climbing on all.the.things in the house. Fearless for sure, and thankfully tough, because she falls down and pushes the limits multiple times per day. She can kick a soccer ball like a pro. She will run away and/or chase her brother around the house until she falls, and because she is tough she'll shake off the 'owie' in no time. We are entering the Bandaid Phase with Cecelia, and even a tiny bump or bruise warrants a 'bam-baid'. Sometimes we oblige even without blood because we pick our battles around here. ;)



CC has started exerting her opinion on my outfit choices for her. Cue the waterworks, this is way too early to let go of dressing up my doll baby!! Luckily she has a solid sense of style and tends to gravitate towards skirts (all of which are 'tutus'), anything pink, and brightly colored socks. Every color is 'pink' to this child. Truman is working on her with identifying her colors since he cannot handle her calling blues pinks. I might be partially to blame for this love of our favorite color;)She got her second haircut this month and LOVED the pampering in that chair, and she will still pick out her hair bows with authority.





Another 'second' this month---stomach bug. More puking, just like last month. Awesome. Is winter over yet?

All female cartoon characters that sort of resemble a princess are Ariel to Cecelia. Or, more accurately, 'Eel.' She also likes to point out 'Dora' but hates when Truman and I sing the Dora the Explorer song. Please. Cecelia does not care at all about TV just yet which is the polar opposite of her brother, but she does like to yell about Dora and Eel quite a bit. Her new favorite phrase is 'Oh, what?' after I call her name. She will tell me 'No Way!' when I ask her to do something, and says, 'Wait!' if I start walking too fast for her liking. She repeats almost everything we say and I couldn't resist getting a video of her saying, 'Booty hole.' I just die over her little voice sometimes.

Truman is particularly happy to teach her new words. The other day I heard him telling her to say 'Angry Birds Race.' But he broke it down for her into approximately 20 syllables and it didn't come out exactly right--but he still praised her for her efforts!

I think CC is pretty amazing at independent play. I mean, she will bring us tea cups full of imaginary tea or hand us bowls full of random tiny toys but she also likes to play alone. Cecelia also loves to have a task like helping mommy empty the dishwasher, or 'helping' with laundry, and she really likes sitting on the kitchen counter to 'assist' me with all meals. Otherwise known as 'eating all of mom's food but not a lot of my own.'  She especially loves her dad's grapefruit, cucumbers and tomatoes from my salad (with Ranch dressing), my omelets, and any type of smoothie that I throw at her. The other night she had her first tiny burrito and loved it. Actually, she is a great eater in general but she absolutely prefers to graze around on her parents' plates instead of eating her own food. We like to share in this family, I suppose! She also lasts for approximately 5 minutes sitting at the table with us for meals before she wants down. Too much playing to do, I guess.



I've noticed that Cecelia is incredibly observant lately. She notices when there is a 'birdie' chirping outside. She told me about the 'dirt' on my face that was a tiny speck of mascara near my eye. Anytime she hears something and doesn't know what it is, she will ask, 'Noi???' (noise).

Also, Cecelia has totally rocked the big girl bed transition. We moved her out of the crib right after her 21 month post and she has blow us away with being a big girl in a big bed. She isn't climbing out like we feared and generally loves to take her nap around noon and bedtime around 7:30. She might love her big bed because she thinks she is so mature, or because we still let her have the pacifier in that bed. Loves it. Occasionally she will cry out for me in the middle of the night starting around 4 am, but it seems like she is still sleeping for most of those wake ups. Sometimes just replacing her pacifier or tucking her back into the bed works. And sometimes she really does want to wake up for the day around 5 but she will almost always stay in her bed until the Tot Clock is yellow at 6:30. I find that if she does the early morning wake ups, she is super fussy all morning and obviously overtired. Duh, lady! Sleep later! When will my children learn to value the concept of 'sleeping in'….other than on work days when I have to wake them up to get our day started? Sigh.

Cecelia has the sweetest heart. She will give me those unprompted hugs and kisses but has a special love for her daddy. Highlight of my life is when she will climb up on his lap and just cuddle there for a bit, with a big smile on her face. Pretty sure the two of them will always have an amazing father-daughter bond, and sometimes only daddy will do for Cecelia (fine by me!). Her favorite is requesting 'football' in the playroom, since one time they watched a game together. Mostly she just wants to sit next to him and have a moment, I think. Love it.



CC also loves Truman something fierce but since she is the opposite of a wallflower, she can certainly hold her own against him. They love to play together and most of the time it's full of laughter and not so many tears. Taking cushions off of the couch and building forts, racing trains, and dancing together are their favorite activities to do as siblings. It's the best to see my two children get along and LOVE each other a majority of the time. I can only hope that Cecelia loves her baby brother as much as she loves her big one.



They share their daddy's love for a Shamrock Shake.


Same face here. Craziness.


Feeding her brother her cookie at Starbucks.


This is for real. I cannot stage these random hugs!


Comparing Truman and Cecelia at 22 months? Well first there are the physical similarities:









And then reading back over T's 22 month post made me laugh. I had no idea Truman was interested in the potty this early but I DO remember his horrible sleeping habits. And both of my children have hated diaper changes at this age.

My sweet CC, these monthly posts always end up being too lengthy and yet they still can't fully capture your firecracker personality. You are so full of life, full of spunk, and full of sass! Those big blue eyes melt me and your kisses are the best. Thanks for showing us mercy sometimes and holding back on the mood swings. We love you more than words and can't wait to see you grow up even MORE than you already have.



xo
Mommy