So... A Post About C.

I figured a post about C was definitely in order, seeing as it's her birthday and all.

This little girl.

How do I begin?

It's like she grew up on us overnight.  Even three weeks ago she really could have been considered our baby still, but now she's just getting so little-kid-like in every way.

She's amazing and fascinating and it's been just wonderful to watch her play and hear her speak and see her "wheels turning".  As with most little girls who are two years old, she feels emotions in extremes... and witnessing the unbridled joy of the two-year-old is just about the most fun thing ever.

We've been having our share of the other extremes too, along with the typical two-year-old behaviors of pushing, grabbing, high-pitched screaming... and yes, even hitting.  Her first "time-out" happened exactly three weeks ago, and there have been several since then.  These types of behaviors came on rather suddenly-- it was like someone threw a switch, and we woke up one morning and C was all at once acquainted with the ways of warfare.

These moments are relatively rare, though, and she does love her sisters to bits, asks for them when they're not around, and wants to cheer them up when they're sad.  The other day L was crying after a fall, and C approached, patting her on the back and saying, "Take a deeeeeep breaf."

One of the things I love that she's doing right now:  whenever someone says her name or calls for her, if she's in a different part of the house, she'll say "I'm right here!" (She also points to herself when she's saying this, and although I can't always see it, I always know she's doing it and it makes me smile.)  It's so fun to hear her little voice piping up from some corner of the house... "I'm wight heew!"

I love sitting down and playing with her, and I wish I had more time to do it.  Watching the things that she imagines, seeing her ideas, and hearing the things she says is just the greatest.

Oh and there's this thing about the big girl bed.

Just after Christmas we switched the rooms around (again... this seems to be a bi-yearly thing in our house) because N was complaining of being "lonely" in her room by herself and kept asking to share a bed with L.  So we set up our old queen bed frame and mattress for them in the back room that C and L had been sharing, and moved C into the front room (in her crib at the time).

The girls have had a lot of fun hanging out together in their "new" rooms

N's bed-- a toddler bed that converts to a twin-- was still in the room, though, and since we had already been able to eliminate the crib-to-toddler-bed convertible that L had been sleeping in, we were sort of feeling like eliminating more clutter.  Rather than move N's old bed, however, we decided to just try C in it and see how she did.  And she did great!  She seems to know the drill, having seen big sisters doing it.  We've now had four naps and four night-time sleeps in the big-girl bed with no trouble whatsoever.

And so now our house is crib-free.  First time it's been that way in almost six years!

But I digress.  Back to C.

We had a quiet, small celebration today with C.  Grandma came, as she usually does on Wednesdays so that I can work a full day, but since my class just started back up today I didn't have any grading to do, and I was able to spend the morning watching C play with her new tricycle from Grandma, and then we all ate lunch together.

(It was such a busy and fun day that I forgot to have C open her present from Mommy & Daddy!  It's still sitting in my closet.  Oh well, we can prolong the celebrating into tomorrow!)

It was just perfect for C-- she gets nervous and shy in big crowds these days, so I knew that having lots of people for a big party wouldn't be her cup of tea.  Considering she nearly burst into self-conscious tears when we sang "Happy Birthday", I think this day was just right, and beyond that the only birthday celebrating we plan to do is a little playdate with her closest friends.

Since I've put our whole family on Laura's Sugar Detox starting this week (I'm actually super excited about this and I think it may be the solution to many of the GI difficulties of the Sugar and Spice family... more on that later!) I had to make a wheat-free, sugar-free, and dairy free cake/loaf with strawberries on top for C.  I worried a bit that she wouldn't like it, but she had three pieces (along with both sisters, I might add... N had four pieces).  This was the first kid birthday where I felt completely comfortable saying, "Yes, help yourself to another slice of cake!"

Enjoy some footage of her cake and candles today...

Happy Birthday, C... we're just so glad you decided to join us two years ago.  We couldn't imagine this life without you.