18 Month Check Up

Rebecca turned 18m old on Saturday and had her check up yesterday. We feel very blessed to have such a smart, healthy little girl. Rebecca's check up went well...meaning she's healthy. In terms of dealing with the check up, not so well. At least we now know she has a very good memory. The moment we stepped into the room to get her undressed she started screaming and crying. She knew exactly where she was :P She clung to Mommy for dear life. Mary could hardly get her undressed. We managed to get her weighed and measured. Then with some distractions from toys she settled down. Until the doctor came in. And it started all over. After the exam was over she got settled again. Then the really bad part...the shots. Poor thing. Rebecca had 4 shots! It took a bit to get her settled and dressed after that. But we finally made it out. A couple of stickers at the check out helped :) And once we were in the car she was fine. Now we don't have to go back until she turns 2! And no more shots until about kindergarten!!!Rebecca is growing well. She weighs 24 lbs. 12 oz. (50-60%) and is 31 3/4 in. tall (50%). If the trend continues with her height she will be taller than Mommy :) The doctor was very impressed with her verbal skills. And says she is at a 2-3 year old level developmentally with that stuff. She is meeting or exceeding all of her milestones. The doctor was also impressed that she had such a mouth full of teeth :) We are happy the 2-year molars are poking through. And will be glad when they are done coming in. We don't need to take her to the dentist until she is 3. But Mary might bring her along to her next cleaning just so Rebecca can see what it's like at the dentist (it helps that our hygienist is a good friend...she'll let Rebecca check things out:).We are starting to work harder at self-feeding. Rebecca uses her spoon and fork once in a while. But she's got a ways to go. She does love to eat, though! Once in a while there will be something she doesn't like or isn't in the mood for. But in general she eats whatever you give her. And lately she's been eating a ton! Some days it seems like she spends half of her day in her high chair because she never stops eating :P Rebecca still loves avocado, broccoli and cauliflower. But she loves pretty much all veggies. She'll even say "veggies, mmmm" while she's eating :) She also loves beef! Especially if it is accompanied by ketchup :P "Ket-chup, beef." And she likes toast or tortillas (or anything really) with peanut butter. She calls it butter.

Rebecca is getting good at her alphabet. She can pretty much do the whole alphabet song by herself now. A few letters get slurred together. But other than that she does the whole thing! She does well with just saying the alphabet too. And she is starting to recognize her letters. She points out just about every "A" she sees :) She is really interested in looking at the words in books, on boxes, etc. now so she can pick out letters. Her vocabulary is limitless. The doctor asked how many words she knew. I almost laughed. You mean count them? I said infinite :) She repeats and understands everything we say. When I told the doctor she says sentences he seemed shocked. Rebecca is very good at communication. She is a little chatter box. Rebecca can also do a little simple spelling. She can say "e-g-g, egg."The music is always on in our house. From the moment she gets up Rebecca is asking for "mu-gek." She goes over to the CD player and tries to push the buttons herself. And she lets you know exactly what CD/songs she wants to hear too :) She has most of her CDs memorized. She knows what song is next before it starts. Rebecca LOVES Kindermusik. Every time we go away she thinks were on our way there. When we get to our destination she'll ask about sticks or shake or dance. She wishes we could go every day. She is known as the dancing girl in class. And she even has her own signature move. Rebecca is getting better at trying all different types of movement, like jump, squat, spin, stomp, march, tip-toe, rock. Maybe we'll have to put her in dance someday :)Rebecca also loves to go to MOPS and church. Anywhere that she gets to see other kids. She still doesn't interact with other kids a lot. But she loves to be around them and watch them. She just takes everything in. She's very contemplative :) Even one of the other KM moms yesterday noticed that. She commented how you could tell she was always thinking and watching.Rebecca is still our little mommy. She takes care of her dolls very well. And she loves to cook. Especially for Mommy. She makes Mommy ice cream all day ;) She knows it's my favorite :P I think it's Rebecca's favorite too. She asks for ice cream with chocolate all the time. She also enjoys helping Mommy in the kitchen with real cooking and baking.

Tomorrow we are going to a MOPS playdate at For the Kids Gymnastics. If Rebecca enjoys it we might sign her up for a class. She is really getting into climbing and tumbling right now. Grandpa and Grandma Voogt are also visiting tomorrow. And next week Grandpa and Grandma Holleboom might be here to watch Rebecca since Mary has jury duty. Lots of fun activities and visitors.