Cecelia is FOUR

1, 2, 3, 4...

How is this possible? Only-already four years old? HOW, I ask you, blogland?

Comparisons make me happy you know: me and my girl on her birthday each year <3


I struggle to capture all of my children's personality on this blog, but Cecelia takes the cake when it comes to an indescribable spirit, a uniqueness that can't be contained by labels or words or stories. She's our fighter, our rainbow baby, our feisty daughter, our emotional rollercoaster, our genuine sweetheart that keeps us guessing. And yes, she is absolutely stunning, too. Thankfully she has a lot more going for her than 'just' her looks but wow, she really takes my breath away with her big blue eyes, toothy smile, and those curls.


Cecelia embodies everything that represents childhood, the way it should be: innocence, playfulness, curiosity, and sometimes testing boundaries. She hates to get her face wet and is petrified of thunder. But she's fearless when it comes to trying new foods, going places without me, and climbing/running/jumping. She loved going to Sunday School this year and did not show one ounce of shyness or sadness when I'd leave her there. She'd simply wave goodbye to me with a big grin and get started on a project. She'd ask to go to Sunday School each week, when I know Truman required me to sit inside of his classroom for the first week or two when he started at age three.

I was also really nervous about Truman starting Junior Kindergarten when he turned four. But Cecelia? She is going to rock it's face off. She's ready, much more so than I'm ready to let her go this fall. But perspective teaches me that her first year in school is really just 2.5 hours every day, and it will go by in a blink. It still boggles my mind to think that my little girl is ready to go to Truman's school each morning. Three separate trips to school each day will be super fun on my end (drop off both kids at 8:20, pick CC up at 10:55, pick Truman up at 3:20) but STILL. Two kids in school this fall. Holy crap.


Sister is a great sleeper, although she has officially dropped her nap in the past four months. Dropping the nap means her bedtime is easy peasy and she passes out within minutes around 7:30-8pm, just like Truman. They still love sharing a room and I don't see that changing anytime soon. When their Tot Clock turns yellow at 7am, they both have usually been awake for a good 15 minutes, but they don't dare come out of their room until then. Sometimes T and C will fight about who gets to open the door, who walks down the stairs first, etc. Oh, those two for SURE like to push each other's buttons. But I also think sharing a room is a huge bonus for Cecelia, especially. She will likely get her own bedroom someday, and maybe the boys will share----but for now she really enjoys being with her big brother.


CC is also our best eater, by far. She loves to eat salad (off my plate), raw veggies (cucumbers are her favorite), and pretty much any meat (preferably off my plate). She loves to sip my La Croix and begs to chew gum almost daily. Truman has had gum maybe five times ever, and Cecelia possibly twice, but she knows how to ask the same question repeatedly hoping for a different answer each time.

For being such a great eater, she is still a string bean! I'm not sure of her stats, her four year appointment (with shots, yikes!) is this week, but I'm guessing she is in the 90th percentile for height and 25th for weight. I know she is not even close to the forty pound mark needed for a booster seat, so that five point harness will be around for awhile longer. She might be around thirty-five pounds and....super tall. She wears mostly 4T clothes but sometimes the pants are way too baggy in the waist, so we drop to 3Ts in pants but then they are high waters. Thank goodness for warmer weather with shorts and dresses! Her feet are a size 9-10 and she has more pairs of shoes than the boys combined;)


I honestly have not worked on writing the alphabet or numbers with Cecelia at ALL, compared to how much I practiced with Truman. And yet, she somehow can write her name with most of the correct sequencing and even draws stick figures and other random shapes without prompting. Truman was never into coloring before Junior Kindergarten, but Cecelia loves it!  I do not know how high she can count or anything like that because, well, second child syndrome. But I think she is a pretty smart cookie regardless!


Other things she loves: chapsticks, baby dolls, nail polish, shoes, skirts that twirl, glitter, potty talk, and riding her bike or scooter. She loved dance class and gymnastics, really hated soccer. Taking a family walk around the block might be one of her favorite activities of all time, and she frequently tells me, 'I love everyone in our family so much.' The feeling is very much mutual around here as Cecelia's mood dictates our day, it seems. But as I just told Nate the other day, I do think the emotional meltdowns are spacing out quite a bit lately and perhaps age four will be MUCH easier on us than ages two and three were with this little lady. She seems to pull through from a low moment quicker than she could last year, but there are still PLENTY of times when she can't deal and needs a break from everything (i.e. a time to rest in her bedroom, which usually means she is screaming at the top of her lungs the entire time but there really isn't another way to exorcise those demons).

On the flip side, when Cecelia is happy she is REALLY REALLY happy. Showering us with affection, and love, and giggles----it doesn't get much better than a happy Cecelia.


She says a lot of things that really need to be documented into eternity on the internet, but I forget so many of them that it's a shame. Some that I posted on Facebook...

Cecelia: "Mommy, I just don't know what I want to be when I'm an adult." Said in an exasperated voice). 

Me: "Well, luckily you have a lot of time to figure it out, no worries." (Also, you can be anything you want to be, don't grow up too quickly, etc etc). 

Cecelia: "I definitely want to be a princess or a fairy."

Me: (stifling my look of horror-amusement with a raised brow. Dream big, little girl. And why so gender specific??)

Cecelia: "But I'm sad because I don't have wings. I hope I grow them soon."

Me: (heart exploded over the sweetness). I hope she never grows up (sometimes)!

Cecelia at bedtime: "Mommy, do you know how much I love you? I love you like polar bears love their mommies." 

She also regularly tells me that she loves me soooooooooo much, and that 'You're my best mommy ever.'  I never ever want to forget how many times she will tell me this in a day. Probably at least three times every day she tells me she loves me, and the most random times. Kind of like when Truman used to randomly declare me as his 'best friend', this is something that already makes my heart hurt for the time when she stops telling me this! (Just like Truman never tells me I'm his best friend anymore, wahhhhhhh). 


Another one I posted in the winter:
Walking home in the 3 degree weather, after dropping Truman at school: Cecelia--> "Porter, when we get home I'm going to give you some Chapstick because you be so hayve. (Behave)."

Cecelia loves her days with Papa so much. They have really found a nice groove together and my favorite day was when I came home to Tony with painted fingernails. Because obviously, Cecelia wanted to paint his nails and he couldn't say 'no'. That was a first for him but probably not his last! Understatement of the year: we are so blessed to have Tony in our lives. 


Did I mention that my mom made a flower girl dress for Cecelia to wear to Nate's brother's wedding in July? I DIE.




She spontaneously hugged my mom after trying the dress on for the first time. Genuine gratitude, right there.


Also a big fan of her light up princess dress my mom made a few years ago. This child is 100% girl, you guys.


A drawing of our family, 'And everyone is going potty here.' She even got the colors right with the gender of each!


Sometimes Cecelia reminds me that she isn't actually fourteen, and instead just turned four. Like when she asks me to carry her up the stairs.


But really. This face.


We had a small-ish BBQ birthday party for Cecelia on her actual birthday this year. It sort of felt rushed because Nate and I were just getting back from our San Diego trip and I hadn't even bought our girl a single gift until a few days before her birthday. But we did get her a Minnie Mouse watch, some pink Ray Bans, an Ariel tee shirt, Disney princess flip flops, and chapstick. She woke up to helium balloons all around our house on her birthday morning (which promptly dropped to the ground before her party, hours later), she picked cinnamon rolls for her breakfast, and then counted down until her party. I made her a 'candy cake' this year, inspired by the cake my mom made for me at my eighth birthday. Cecelia freaking loves sugar and has even asked Lois for a spoonful of sugar to eat when she hungry. So I knew a homemade cake with candy on top would be her heaven and sure enough, she devoured it (all of the kids did!).

CC wanted to wear her birthday crown all day and had such a blast with her friends. She had requested s'mores, so we did that at the end of the night. The accidental theme of the party turned out to be SUGAR.




Close up of the sugary delight:




Like any four year old, Cecelia freaking loves to open presents. She also wanted to play with a few of them immediately while her buddies all played in the backyard.


She perked back up for this, one of her favorite treats ever:


This big girl lights up our world!! She is now using Truman's old bike since he got a new one, still using training wheels but I predict she will ride without the trainers way before Truman ever did.


She's a hoot in her new sunglasses.


Nailed the family picture!!!


I don't know what else I can share about our girl, but I highly recommend you watch this video of her birthday interview. This is the only way you can get to know the type of entertainment that Cecelia brings to the table. I mean, listen to what she wanted for her birthday this year!!

Her fourth year interview:

Cecelia's four year old interview from Julia H. on Vimeo.

I haven't come close to adequately describing our girl, but those of you who've read my blog for awhile know how much we wanted her. She is so celebrated and so very loved. And she is FOUR! I can't imagine life without our Cecelia, and on this birthday especially, I want to absorb the enormity of this blessing. Another year with Cecelia, and oh, what a ride.

We love you, big girl!!!
xoxo
Mommy