Veronica All Smiles at 11 Months

Veronica and Lauren each celebrated “birthdays” Saturday. For Lauren, it was her “half birthday,” as she only has six more months to be seven years old.

Veronica marked her 11th month birthday with a low-key celebration. She’s more focused on the big party next month. After all, birthdays are big deals in the Y-D house.

At 11 months, it’s time for Veronica’s monthly status report.

Her sisters refer to her as “VEER’-own,” “The One” and “HAIR’-own.” Dad can’t offer an explanation for any of those nicknames - as he dislikes nicknames anyway - but perhaps he’ll explore the meaning behind them and spell out the details in a future posting.

She can open and close doors and is better at going up stairs than descending them.

If given the opportunity, she prefers people food to any kind of baby food, though she eats some of the little chewable solids by Gerber. She drinks out of a sippy cup and still drinks at least one bottle of formula a night.

Her car seat in the van is now facing forward, meaning she can compete with her sisters to spot “Slug Bugs,” “Ugly Box Cars,” “Mustangs,” “Hummers,” “Semis,” “RVs” and “PT Cruisers.” (With so many vehicles to spot, a typical trip in the van usually means someone is continually shouting out a make or model.)

Dubbed "The Fantastic Five," by their Uncle Neil: (left to right): Julia, Emily (with Veronica), Olivia and Lauren.