I wanted to wait until today to post so that some vital stats could be included! At the official 18 month checkup, Julia weighed in at a Tinkerbell-ish 22.6 pounds, which is actually a significant increase considering how sick she was in the last month (more on that in a minute). Her height is now 31 1/2 " long and her noggin is 17 3/4 " in diameter - this is good because she was on the low side in the last round, which was cause for concern (although dad and I think there was a measurement error that the nurse will not admit to). Overall, she is in good health and on-track developmentally, according to Dr. "Let's Wait and See".
In the last month, Julia had her first bout with urinary tract infections, which is no picnic for people with a vocabulary and especially not fun for little people who can't tell you what's wrong. The kicker is that once we took her in to find out what the problem might be, we were told to wait a few more days, which wasn't very much fun for anyone involved. Once diagnosed (which involved catheterization - another "not fun" activity), the doctor was concerned that this might be a bigger issue, which lead to a trip to the hospital for testing, which Julia did not like at all. Even the ultrasound was detested. The news came back as good and we did find out why cathetering her is difficult.
As you saw in the last post, Julia is now walking which means she's getting into everything. It's actually very cute to have her follow us around and "help" with whatever we're doing - laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. Right now she's big into helping. She helps us get her in and out of her highchair and car seats (this includes buckling). And just yesterday she was standing in the doorway as I was trying to get in and out of the porch area to grill some chow and when I said, "Excuse me" she stepped aside to let me out and then went back to her post as door guard. or whatever it was she was doing. She's also very big with taking the kitchen towel off of the oven door and wiping the floor. Apparently she does this at school because they asked if she helped clean at home. I said, "Well, sort of - if you mean "does she wipe things with towels" then yes. If you mean actual cleaning, I will refer to the DVD pile she leaves daily in the living room after she pulls them all from the shelf and say no." Along with this new mobile independence comes an impishness - she likes to try to push our buttons and see how far she can get with what she knows she shouldn't do. I have yet to capture the look she gives us, but it is precious in its naughtiness.
It may seem that we're a bit biased, but Julia is also sharp as a tack. On a daily basis she picks up daddy's iPad and requests certain games to be played or books read on it. If this is not done immediately, she either whines until it IS done immediately or, more recently, has figured out how to get the iPad to work and is now doing it herself. It is a little scary to watch an 18 month old comprehensively using a piece of technology that some adults have a hard time getting to work. On a less technological note, she can make several animal noises (mum is so proud), continues to have a wickedly funny sense of humor, and now doles out real kisses when asked (and sometimes spontaneously, like when she's home from school). And apparently everything good is called "daddy" - daddy very much likes that.
