Silly baby

When Allie finds a sound she likes, she just does it over and over again:

She just started doing this tonight.  We think she might be imitating sneezing.  Apparently, we're all missing out:

Random pictures and Nicole's birthday mini tea party

Happy baby

Mini tea party.

Mini birthday cake

Not sure exactly how we got to now.

This is a comfortable sleeping position.

People on a bridge, and there are monsters below.

Nicole's explanation for this fish is that she didn't know how to draw a fish. 
We thought it looked sort of prehistoric or Egyptian.

Cinnamon rolls and ordering book

A few days ago, I made cinnamon rolls with cream cheese layered in the dough.  It looked really pretty, so I took before and after pictures.  The "after" pictures are on my sister-in-law's phone, but here are the "before" ones.

They tasted really good out of the oven.

My dad flew in to visit today.  Excited to learn she would see her grandpa, Nicole eagerly started making plans for what she would play with him.  She started setting up a restaurant, where she would be the chef, and Grandpa would be the diner.  She made this "ordering book," AKA the menu.

In case you can't understand it, it means, "Meat; milk; pepperoni pizza; carrot; sandwich."

Career training

Yesterday, Nicole and Allie's aunt and uncle babysat them.  They told us that Allie really seems to like rhythm.  Their uncle started drumming out a beat on either his legs or the kitchen table, and she went crazy for it!  I thought she was going to be a professional wrestler (because she is super squirmy; and when I change her diaper, I hold her arms down with my feet, but she hooks her leg around my leg to flip her lower half over), but perhaps she is in fact destined to be a DJ or a drummer.  About a month ago, Allie started to sort of beatbox.  I caught a very brief demonstration here:

Or maybe she is going to be a thief or escape artist.  A few days ago, I put her in her room and shut the baby gate.  I just put the latch down, but don't bother to pull back the spring-loaded red plastic piece to lock the latch down since I figure it's not necessary at Allie's age.  But a few days ago, I put her in her room and shut the gate; while I was in the bathroom, Nicole reported to me that Allie was out of her gate and was playing with the diapers.  I was perplexed, because I was almost certain I had latched the gate shut.  This morning, I made sure to latch the gate closed when I went to wash my hands, but Allie mysteriously escaped again!  So I put her back in there to see if she would get out.  She cried for half a second, then stood up and started swatting at the latch with her fingers until it opened.  I had no idea she was paying attention...

I guess it makes sense.  She hates being stuck in there!

Something for Allie

Nicole was very busy this afternoon doing something which she seemed to think was quite important.  I asked her if she wanted to help me make the cinnamon rolls.  She said, "I'm making something for Allie!"

Apparently, this is a duck in the water; sand at the bottom; pink and yellow bubbles; clouds in the sky; the bird is thinking that it doesn't know what a princess is (?); and a mother and daughter on a bridge, and the daughter is pointing at the duck.

I don't know where you are...

Last week, I snuck out of the house for a meeting, but when Nicole inquired where I had gone, Tim couldn't remember.  Apparently, she was very distressed over my mysterious absence.  Tim told me she had written me a note, and I finally found it last night:

The past week

Nicole recently gained access to a large amount of paper, so she has been drawing like crazy.  These are some of my favorite drawings of hers from the past week or so:

Explanation by Nicole:  There was a little girl named Clover in a house, and then she saw a fire.  "Aaaah!  Fire!"  And then an angel came - a fire angel.

In case you can't read 4-year-old:  "Tweet tweet, birdie."

A turtle she made for Daddy

Nicole helped me, or rather, watched me make this strawberry rhubarb pie the other day.  She thought it was so pretty, so I took a picture for her, since it came out of the oven when she was asleep:

Also, I added the latest Allison in a basket photo to my old post.  Oh, and here are some outtakes:

6/1/18

5/11/18