A quick shout-out to a dear friend of mine, who is probably either in labor right now or is going to be soon. My thoughts are with her, and my concerns. I keep checking her and her husband's blogs regularly, hoping for an update, but not exactly like they're going to log-on and give a play-by-play from the delivery room. I'm really wishing right now that she didn't live in South Carolina, so far away.

Closer to home, however, are my concerns about Veronica. She is sick with the flu. I now see why they call it "projectile vomiting." I didn't know you could get that sort of distance with puke. Five feet from a kid who's not even two. Poor lil' Veronica. She's a trooper but it's awful to see her feeling so miserable. Add on a fever and a cough, and she's in pretty sad shape.

The good side of this, if there could be one, is the fact that Jason took her to the doctor. The doctor said "she has a flu bug", nothing wrong, her weight is still fine, etc. They then discussed her verbal development. Jason was just checking that she's where she should be. The doctor said she's exactly where she should be in verbal development - if she were turning three. Apparently, this is pretty unusual:

1. Prepositions.

The constant "Mommy at work? Mommy in bath? Go to Debbie?" etc. is apparently really advanced for her age. Most kids don't start using them for at least a few more months. She's been saying these things since around Christmas.

2. Long sentences.

The average two-year-old can string together two words or so. Veronica can say "Where kitty go?", the aforementioned sentences and, the latest, "Put that over there." Good lord. Her other inquiry, when stated she's going to Debbie's, is "Courtney an' Spice?" Courtney is her best friend there, a little girl two months younger than her, and Spice is Debbie's minature poodle mix that she's had for about a year now. Veronica just loves them both. Which leads me to...

3. Talking about things that aren't there.

A few evenings ago, I was changing Veronica's diaper when she informed me, out of the blue, that "Courtney has a hat." I never get to see Courtney - Jason drops Veronica off in the mornings, and Courtney's mom picks her up early in the evenings - so I had to talk with Jason and Debbie to confirm that Courtney indeed has a pink hat that she wears every day. A couple days later, I was driving Veronica home and asked what she and Courtney did that day. She told me "Courtney home", which was true as her mommy had already picked her up, and then proceeded to say something about Courtney and a car. I don't know if she was saying that Courtney played with a toy car, or that Courtney left in a car, but it didn't matter. She hadn't seen the kid in a good half-hour and was therefore describing something that happened in the past.

I don't know if this says anything either, but she and Courtney really are friends. I didn't know kids could do that so young. The two of them get into races at Debbie's house, and Veronica talks about her all the time, even when they're not together. There's other kids at Debbie's, but Courtney is definitely her favorite. I think it's adorable and one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

I read up on her verbal development and whatnot in my "What to Expect: The Toddler Years" book, and it pretty much confirmed what the doctor said. If I go by the book, it looks like she's still a little behind on certain walking skills, such as jumping and walking up stairs. But that's not a surprise, given her previous problems in walking. She walks, runs, and climbs just fine now, so I'm not really concerned. I'm just happy that my little girl seems to be pretty smart - and the fact that this illness should soon pass. I usually think my kid's OK, but it's nice to have a professional opinion on it once in a while, just to set the mommy brain at ease. And every parent thinks their kid is smart, so it's nice to know too that hey, she very well may be! :-)