29, 39, and 51

Those are the weights of my youngest girls.  Joy and Eva both came home weighing 15 pounds when they were a year old.  Ivy came home weighing 41 pounds and barely budged in her weight gain for the first 6 months.  But, she's caught up quite well.  I look at all three of these girls and think about how their nutrition may have played a role in their development, both physically and mentally.  I know that Ivy had food every day, but not very much, and she rarely had water.  I also know that she did not have a variety.  Everyday she had rice and soup.  I also know that Joy never had a bit of food ever until we met her, only bottles.  She had no idea what to do with the food I put in her mouth.  Eva knew exactly what food was and loved it.  She would focus on her food and eat anything in site very quickly, never leaving a crumb.  So, take a look:

Ivy and Eva are 2 years and 11 months apart.  Eva and Joy are only 8 months apart.  To me, the big difference comes with Eva and Joy, both physically and mentally.  Eva is 10 pounds heavier.  It takes Joy about 2 years to grow into clothes that Eva has outgrown.  Shoes take even longer.

Eva usually wants to be outside, exploring, playing, whatever she can do.  Joy, on the other hand, loves those things, too, but wants to be in my lap whenever she is inside the house.  Joy's emotional maturity is more at a 3 year old level.  She reads at a K level, and seems to understand her schoolwork.  Still, her temper, frustrations, rule her.  So, I wonder how much food played a role in my daughters' beginnings.