I supposed we 'celebrated' Cecelia's seventeen month birthday in Colorado, which should make up for the fact that we actually totally forgot about it.
But I shall write a post two days late and will keep it short and sweet since I haven't thought much about how to describe the changes in my girl this month. Except that she is awesome. She's so big and yet so little, still. She is absolutely hilarious and has more personality than I could accurately describe in a (forgotten) post. Also, she is beautiful and makes us so proud already. We love the hell out of her in case that wasn't apparent, and we pretty much think she is the best little daughter we could have imagined.
She is a bit of a stinker, though, and can be a total bruiser who is bound and determined to be our first trip to the ER. Cecelia frequently carries chairs that are as tall as her from room to room until she decides the destination is acceptable. She can pick up the giant garbage truck toy we have like it's nothing and only sometimes drops it directly on her foot. Our little body builder has been known to lift pumpkins bigger than her torso and could probably dead lift Truman if she was angry enough.
And yet, she is only about 23 pounds, soaking wet (I think). Still long and lean but with a classic toddler belly that makes us all grin....because it's something she loves to show people randomly. Love that belly so much. She is wearing all 18-24 month clothes and a lot of the pants are still too short, but 2Ts are way too wide at this point. I have a feeling she is going to have the length versus width problem for many years to come. Welcome to my world, little girl!
Proud/biased mommy alert: Cecelia is brilliant. Well, as brilliant as a seventeen monther can be. I only say that because she is verbalizing so much more than Truman did at this age and can almost always communicate with us using words in a way we can understand. Now, obviously, all kids are different and girls are said to be a lot more verbal than boys, but she just seems very smart to me. She never used sign language like her brother did (probably because we never took the time to teach her) but she has so many words I cannot even keep track anymore. She 'gets' things we are talking about which is not always a good thing, especially when I talk about picking up the kitchen and she demands to play in the water at the sink. Watch out if you deny her that request.
She can correctly identify all kinds of objects in books (apple, shoes, train, ball, and water are her faves) and in the real world, but my favorite is calling all jack-o-lanterns 'mama'. Hmmmm. She will also point to the fireplace and say 'dada' and laugh, but that's because she saw him painting the fireplace doors and now wants to tell us that 'daddy did that and he is so silly.' She also attempted to say her full name instead of just calling herself 'CC' and let me tell you, hearing her say 'seeel-ya' is the cutest thing ever. Almost as cute as her calling for 'Tru Truuuuuuuuu' whenever she can't find him.
Since she stopped nursing in the past month, we are getting into a nice bedtime routine now that does not include nursing to sleep. We will brush teeth, read two books with her pacifier, then she will basically request to go 'nigh-nigh' and refuses to let me sing to her. That was my grand idea for some cuddle time but she doesn't care for my pitch, I suppose. She will still cuddle with me after naps or if she is pretty tired and in general she can be pretty clingy. I would take cuddles over clings but oh well. Having to peel her off my legs while I cook dinner or get ready for work is getting a little old but it has been a little better in the past few weeks. I also like to blame 'teething' as a blanket excuse for any crankiness and I definitely do see two new canine teeth in there, so here's hoping we are almost done with all of the teeth. We might have two more canines and then we should be done until the two year molars---wild to think about my baby almost having all of her baby teeth!
And she is definitely still using her nuk for sleeping and the car. Eh, not really in a hurry to ditch it just yet if it means messing with (broken) sleep even more.
Still waking up at least once per night but she goes back to bed quickly, after getting her pacifier replaced and a quick hug. Napping like a champ, usually 2-3 hours at a time. Eating like a freaking horse, as always. She literally ate some of my raw spinach leaves from a salad the other day, she is obsessed with scrambled eggs, and it's actually easier to list what she WON'T eat instead of what she likes. Hope she keeps this up forever!
Real pony tails and real pig tails this month---as her hair is getting a bit out of control if I leave it down.
Sometimes Cecelia is a little rough with all of us, especially Henry, and she has started to smack people as a joke. Obviously that goes over really well with Truman and Henry is getting used to running away when she comes at him with those devilish eyes. But overall she is just a sweet heart who is curious, funny, and trusting. She just completed her third round trip flight and although it was a bit rough due to extreme fatigue from a week in CO, she still had really sweet moments throughout the travel. I think once she is old enough to zone out with electronics we will be totally set, but obviously we are not there yet;)
I feel like this is a vague, non-specific update without many examples but it's all I can do at the moment. Like I said, Cecelia is pretty freaking awesome and definitely keeps us on our toes. Love this little girl so much.
