"Finding Him"

CHAPTER VIII

**REBECCA'S POINT OF VIEW**

Rebecca: "Come on Lil' Cece. Can you take one more bite?" I asked as I am feeding Cece applesauce after she had a few chicken nuggets for lunch.

Cece: "Mmmmm. No!" she stated as she folded her arms and turned her head to the side avoiding the last spoonful of applesauce held out in front of her.

Rebecca: "Man, oh man! What a sassy little girl we have on our hands." I teased. "Don't you want to be done and get out of the highchair so you can play in the nursery?"

Cece: "I wan out!"

Rebecca: "You can get out sweet heart, just one more bite?"

Cece: "I wan milk!"

Rebecca: "Cece. You can have your baba and play as soon as you take this one last bite, okay?"

*As feisty as Cece is right now, her toddler self is adorable. It literally takes everything in my body to not cave into her all the time. She is just so darn cute, the pigtails, the outfit, her bib, the little personality... just everything. It made me absolutely melt actually getting the opportunity to little her. It made me so happy to see her being vulnerable and to finally let her guard down after all this time.*

*Cece then just started whining, like she was about to cry.*

Cece: "I wan.. down..I wan.. out!" she whined over and over meanwhile rubbing her eyes.

Rebecca: "Oh, okay. I see what the issue is... someone is sleepy and hasn't had a nap yet, huh?"

Cece: "No. Not sleepy." she whined while continuing to rub her eyes and kicking her feet.

Rebecca: "Hey, honey. Let's not keep rubbing our eyes, okay? Can I make you a bottle really quick?"

*Just then I noticed Cece's eyes fill with tears and soon those tears started running down her cheeks.*

Cece: "OUT!" She demanded.

*Immediately I recognized that she was not going to give in. She was way to over-sleepy to even take another bite. I stood up, took the high chair tray off, cleaned Cece's hands and face with wipes, removed her bib, and pulled her out of the high chair and onto my hip.*

Rebecca: "Shhh. Cece... it's okay. Please don't cry sweet girl." I pleaded as I bounced her up and down on my hip and rubbed her back.

*I quickly found her paci sitting on the counter and plopped it into her mouth while trying to sooth her. I made sure her head was resting on my shoulder and after a few moments Cece's loud cries turned into soft sobs and sniffles as I walked into the living room.*

Rebecca: "Okay little one. I am going to turn on a princess movie and lay you down on the couch for a minute while I make your baba, okay?" I then laid Cece gently down on the couch and covered her with a fuzzy blanket.

*You could tell she wasn't completely happy about leaving my side, but the sleepiness was just hitting her like a ton of bricks. Cece slightly nodded as she was sucking on her paci with her eyes half open. I quickly turned-on Princess and the Frog and left the room to fill Cece's bottle. I found Cece's pink bottle sitting on the counter and walked to the fridge to immediately find the milk. I filled Cece's bottle, screwed the lid on tight, and walked back into the living room to find Cece sucking on her thumb- barely able to keep her eyes open.*