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!

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.

I love to watch the girls play. Julia was having so much fun just pulling things out of her baskets and inspecting each one. She would study them and touch them. When she was done contemplating each one she would go back for another one.

You can’t really tell from this photo, but there are fish on her dress. Fish is her new favorite word. When ever she sees fish she points at them or waves her hands in the air saying ‘ish, ish, ish’. Fun, fun, fun!!

I’m enjoying the little bit of curl her hair still has. I don’t expect her curl to last past the first haircut. It is a sweet little girl thing she has right now.