Violet had her 18-month well check this morning. She did wonderfully and is in the 50-55th percentile all the way around (height – 31.5 inches and weight – 25lbs). Seems that whatever issues she had with weight gain awhile back are completely resolved now. And Dr. Guerrero was very satisfied with her progress – walking, talking, playing with her sisters, imitating them & showing affection for them. He started to say that by her 2-year visit, she should be able to string two & three words together and before he could finish that thought, Violet was telling him, “I wanna see! What dat?” Of course, Mama was quite proud. And her sisters were also happy to tell the doctor all of their baby sister’s accomplishments. It was really sweet to hear them brag about her.

I feel bad because when the nurse asked how many words Violet could say, I said maybe 15. Then I sat down to make a list after we got home and there are almost 3 times that many! Violet says: “fifi” (butterfly), hat, flower, Mama, Daddy, “Owibia” (Olivia), “Wibe” (Livy), “Mahee” (Molly), “Wed” (Red), “poo” (spoon), “fo” (fork), chuchi (her word for pacifier), banana, cheese, eggs, orange, apple, “wawa” (drink), eyes, nose, mouth, George (as in Curious George – the latest family fascination), Jesus, shoes, socks, bird, pupek (Czech for belly button), yeah, no, up, down, hi, buh-bye, Reese & Mara (our friends), fish, book, swing, “side” (outside), seat (carseat or booster at the table), baby, “baby Jo” (the name of her favorite doll), “I want dat”, “I wanna see”, “Me!”, “I don’t know” and “I do!”

I would say that she recognizes almost every word in our daily vocabulary. She can follow directions and follows along when we discuss what we’re doing for the day. She will do almost anything we ask her to – fetch her shoes, give Daddy a kiss, find Red, lay down in her crib, etc. She even understands more complex things like “look behind you on the floor.” What can I say, she’s a genius – just like her sisters (and her Mama & Daddy)!! She is generally, a very happy child, content to wander around making her own fun. While I was typing this earlier (and her two older sisters were still napping), she was spoon feeding her baby doll and even wiping her chin with a cloth. She is really affectionate and loves to be held, cuddled and, especially, sit with Daddy when he gets home from work. She will stand at the front windows saying, “I want Daddy!” in the most pitiful voice, and when he finally arrives, she runs right for him to smother him in hugs & kisses. It’s so sweet.

Violet got one vaccination this morning and didn’t even cry. The nurse was so impressed. She just marched right out the door looking for her sticker reward. Dr. G reminded me that it is easy to think of the baby of the family as a baby long after they’ve left the baby phase. He surprised me by saying that he wouldn’t be surprised if Violet was ready for potty training in the next six months having two big sisters to imitate! For heaven’s sake – no diapers in the house – what a strange phenomenon that would be! He also encouraged us to keep treating Violet like a big girl and letting her do things for herself and help with the family chores, both of which she loves to do. She loves to do anything that her sisters are doing. She happily scribbles on paper while they color (which Livy calls her “scribble scrabble”); she follows them around with a doll under her arm while they play house; she puts on a little sequins skirt while they play dress up; she climbs the ladder up into the playscape tower while they chase each other down the slide; and she comes to sit by them when they read books. Last week when we were at Chick-fil-A, she was so upset that she couldn’t climb in the jungle gym – who was I to say that she was too small! Somehow the fact that it was physically impossible did not deter her in the least. In a lot of ways, the age difference between Molly & Violet (12.5 months) is more and more apparent and they seem more similar than Olivia and Molly (20 months apart). It’s only natural that would be the case, but I’ve had it in my head that we have two big girls and a baby (after I had to get it out of my head that we had one big girl & two babies!) – not anymore – 3 big girls – and all I did was blink!