Scarlett Pannebaker

This is the first monthly birthday that came and went without me even noticing. I mean, I know seventeen months is a hugely important milestone and all and I do apologize for completely forgetting about it until two days later. (Sarcasm. Why did I do monthly posts until age two with Truman? I'm determined to do it for CC, too, but this is a lot. Note for future self.).

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.

I'm still going to do monthly blog posts for little miss, but no more official monthly photo shoots. And no more repetitive 'form' style topics. Just writing about my girl on her monthly birthday and I cannot believe these posts will now go into her SECOND yearly album. Hold me.

I was looking at my favorite new app 'Time Hop' the other day and realized that Cecelia's one month quilt and chair shoot happened a year ago. And I was confused, thinking that she still would have been a few days old at this point last year. But no, duh---it's already the end of June and her birthday was a full month ago. Mind-boggling! Then I realized I better start writing this post before she changes even more in the next few weeks.

This is such a fun age (cliche-alert, and probably found on my blog about 354 times by now)! It really is awesome to have CC at an age where she can get around, play a little by herself, and start to communicate her needs in a way we actually understand. She has quite the little personality and a sense of humor. She's our daredevil who seems absolutely fearless when it comes to exploring and trying new things---which is somewhat terrifying, considering Truman has always been a cautious observer. She will be our most expensive child, I'm sure, tallying up a few ER trips and broken bones. And her wardrobe is a little expensive/frivolous/ridiculous but I can't help myself, as I'm sure you understand;)



She popped one more tooth this month, bringing her total up to eight and I hope and pray she cuts a few big boy molars soon. It's the only proper explanation for the loss of her sanity one night this month.  Besides that one wretched night, CC is sleeping like a champ. It seems like she wants to start waking up in the 5 o'clock hour sometimes but she will usually make it until 6'ish. She still takes two solid naps around 9 and 1, ranging from 1-2 hours each. Bedtime is around 7:30-8 and she doesn't usually fight going down for us anymore. My crappy sleeper is turning into a sleep hound and it's obviously the best thing ever.



Cecelia is still nursing about twice or three times per day, but sometimes up to four times if she is extra clingy. I think she is mostly nursing for comfort at this point and still seems to really dig it. Sort of can't believe this is where we are at thirteen months, but hooray! She will actually request to nurse now, patting my chest and saying 'ba ba'. No idea what that actually means but it's obvious she wants some boob time. Still planning to continue as long as she wants, until it just feels too burdensome or weird, I guess.



She's a funny little peanut who loves to ham it up in the name of a laugh. Her favorite thing is to put her froggie blanket on her head and 'hide' then rip it off and fake laugh at us. Also loves to fake laugh at me when I tell her 'NO' as she starts to climb up our stairs, as she looks back with a devilish grin. She also finds it amusing to pick on her big brother---constantly trying to steal his food or his toys, or even just hitting him for no reason. Our little firecracker is always in his biz and he usually tolerates her pretty well.



Also, she is still harboring an inner diva at times. Cecelia has been known to get really mad at me for not picking her up, so she will sit down and slam herself back into the ground to create a scene and a head bonk....just so I will pick her up. Nate saw her do this the first time and I totally did not believe him. But then she did it for Lori one day because Cecelia wanted to be picked up and Lori wasn't responding quick enough. And I've watched her do it to me at home, too. Silly baby. Why do you have to hurt yourself in order to get attention? A small dose of drama each day is tolerable, I suppose.



CC is really understanding what we are saying now, and it's a transition to toddlerhood that I seriously adore. She nods 'yes' and 'no' mostly appropriately and is very exaggerated with her head motions. She is kind of obsessed with going outside, so if she sees that we are getting a bag together she will scurry over to the bench where we keep our shoes, pull out one of her favorite pairs and plop down with her feet stretched out in front of her. Then she will grunt at me until I put her shoes on---sister does NOT want to be left out of a trip outside. She will also point to her mouth if I ask her, 'Cecelia, you want to eat?' If I ask her, 'Are you ready to wake Truman up from his nap?' she will smile and say 'Tu Tu' and start crawling up the stairs to get her big brother.

(video of her being randomly cute and throwing Froggie around)




Another adorable thing she does is she'll randomly say 'pat pat pat' and will pat her tummy. Will also do this one on command as our little trick monkey because it's just so freaking cute. Giving kisses without asking is also high on my list of adorableness, as is playing 'floppy' on the couch. The girl loves to fall onto the pillows like a log going down in the forest, then she will look at us and smile with pride. Hilarious and also dangerous. CC is obsessed with balls and throws them to us non-stop. She also loves Henry and other 'daw-daws' and gets a little rough with our fluff ball sometimes, but he doesn't care. This month she also learned how to say, 'ahhhhhh' after taking sip of milk or water from a cup. Cracks me up every time.

(spilling water is so much fun)
I also think she is becoming a girlie girl. She tries to put pretty much anything in her hair or around her neck---like my phone charger that she sometimes insists on wearing around the house as a necklace, and my headbands that she tries to put in her own hair. Girlfriend wants to accessorize and she is only thirteen months old. She also loves to smear any and all food in her hair, too, taking the accessorizing to the next level.








































She loves her nuk all of a sudden, like WOAH. She doesn't put up a fight when I take it out of her mouth after a nap and we are pretty much only using it for sleeping and the car (and she has a very low tolerance for car rides right now). But I dread the day when we get rid of it all together because it really does soothe her so well. I feel like she didn't care about it at all until a few months ago. Typical.



My girl is becoming a little cuddle bug and obviously I lose my mind over how much I love baby snuggles. If she is tired and I'm holding her, she will rest her head on my chest and I melt. After a nap she loves to just lay on me or Nate a bit before waking up fully, bombing around the house. I don't remember Truman being this snuggly at this age and I hope she doesn't stop this sleepy snuggle thing anytime soon. Between the head-on-chest and the unprompted kisses, I'm a total goner for this babe.





But the biggest accomplishment of the month? She is WALKING!! Not full-time or anything, but she has strung together eight steps as her max and usually pulls off about 4-5 at a time before falling into our arms or onto the couch/ottoman. She will stand alone for some time now and is just starting to get brave enough to walk without someone egging her on, but it's still only something she will do if the mood is just right. Oh boy, we are gearing up for this game changer the best we can and it's still so much fun the second time around. This is a lot earlier than her big brother walked, too.





I love this little lady in my life, I love this age and can't wait to watch her grow up even more this next year. I'll end this post with some favorite iPhone pictures from this month since there aren't enough pictures in the post otherwise;)

Loves to walk with toys outside.




Found a new play pen


Bathtime buddies


Not a big fan of the pool


Laundry helper


Crazy girl



Got the remote, suckers!


Daredevil



Unprompted.


Swimming suit model pose.


Selfies before daycare.


These two.


Kissies.


My running partner


Bwahahaha


Happy campers


Low Fives

First painted toe nails!


Summer BBQ time, cooler of booze and all.