Update.

Molly is learning some new words. Once we realized that she was behind on her expressive speech, we buckled down with her and tried to force some words out. I was hoping for useful words like "kitty" and "cheese," but instead she likes to shout "POP! POP! POP!" at the top of her lungs until I give her some Diet Mountain Dew. Hey, it's caffeine free, okay? No caffeine, no sugar, it's practically a health drink, people. I know it may seem an odd juxtaposition, buying the organic strawberries and then letting my small toddler have some potassium benzoate go down the hatch, but if it gets her to articulate some real live speech, well then, bring on the sodium citrate!

I still firmly believe that she is capable of saying all kinds of things but chooses not to. I was reading a book to her the other day and I did my usual trick of pointing out every object in sight and waiting patiently for her to decide to try to repeat after me and suddenly she pointed to the page and said "Hammer." And I was all, dude that IS a hammer. We've never even read this book and you know what a hammer is! You're a genius! You're a pint-size carpenter genius! Hi five! And she looked at me, closed her mouth, and firmly shoved my hand out the way to turn the page.

I'm not the only one willing to give her anything she wants if she manages to say a word. The other day, I looked over and she was happily chewing gum. She has one molar, mind you, and she is seventeen months old. I glared up at my mom who looked at me with innocence and said "But she said 'GUM'!". And then I couldn't be angry because I knew, deep deep down in my heart, that if Molly said "DIAMONDS!," there'd be a tennis bracelet on her wrist by sundown.