Julia has a new view on life – a forward facing one. We spent some time at the car wash/vacuum cleaning the car, playing, and turning her carseat around. The time has gone fast, but I’m not too sad about this change. She was so pleased with the new direction of her seat and the car feels so much bigger with the seat in it’s new position. She liked it enough to fall asleep in the seat as we drove home.

We had a real picnic of goldfish. The girls were so good to share and take turns. They loved the idea of a snack picnic. I’m surprised they haven’t asked to have another one. There was a little dress-up play before our snack – the jewels and tutu were just leftovers. Fun, fun, fun!!

Emily’s favorite new game is to play picnic. She packs a ‘cooler’ with items and then carrries it to a blanket she has put out. She then opens up the cooler and starts to put out her lunch. Sometimes she invites others to join her. She decides what people are going to eat and assists them with condiments. It has been fun to watch. Julia loves going to the picnics too and helping to unpack the cooler when her sister lets her.

Julia was going for a ride around the kitchen. She stopped for a moment to pose for me. Ride ’em Cowgirl, Away!

I can remember playing in my mother’s closet and my favorite shoes to pull out and try on were her high heels. Emily discovered mine in the closet and couldn’t decide if I should wear them that day or if she should. As it turned out neither of us did. I think we both had a good time with her discovery of my shoes.

Emily is also showing off the stickers that she had stuck to herself the previous day. I think it was her way of having bandaids like her sister had. Julia’s bandaids were easier to take off than Emily’s stickers. She enjoyed looking at them and showing them off until we removed them.

Julia made her 18 month check-up visit to the doctor. Our regular pediatrician was out due to an injury, so we saw a different doctor in our group. She was really kind and good with the girls. My favorite thing from the visit was that she involved Emily to make Julia feel comfortable. Basically all the checks that the doctor did, she did first to Emily and then to Julia. This was especially great given that both girls had a cold.

I was pleased to learn that Julia now weighs 20 lbs. At 18 months and now 20 pounds, she can now sit facing forward in the car. I have no complaints about her in the car, but I think she will really enjoy looking at where we are going. This is a 2-1/2 lbs increase since her last checkup three months ago. As far as weight goes, we are at the 3rd percentile – she is one skinny kid. She is now 30-1/4 inches long and her head and chest both measured 17-3/4 inches. Julia was agreeable for the exam and only was offended when she had to receive three shots at the end.