Little mama

Allison, showing off her motherly instincts

You've got something in your eye, my dear

Hi, Mama!

What do we have here?

It's okay.  Being a good mom takes years and years of practice

"I'm not drunk.  I'm a baby."

Paper squares

On Saturday night, I ripped up a piece of mail to put in the trash.  Not wanting to get up, I handed the tiny stack of paper to Allison and asked her to give them to Daddy to throw in the trash.  The pieces of paper of course fell out of her hand and made a mess.  But to my interest, Allison began picking up each piece of paper one by one and placed them in a neat stack under her thumb, until they were all cleaned up.  I did this again yesterday and got some pictures.

Picking up the pieces of paper, one by one

Whoops, one fell out

Got to get every last piece

Watch your step

Inspecting her collection

Do you see what I have?

Now for the true purpose of everything:  to be eaten

Day trip

We went on a family day trip to Antelope Island today.  We've been meaning to go for about three years, so we're glad to have finally gone.  We went to a neat playground next, and then ate at a very delicious outdoor fried chicken shack called C & B Maddox Famous Chicken.  Nicole thought it was the greatest day ever.  You might call some of these photos, uh, candid.

Sand dollar shaped sweet olive oil bread

Tradition dictates that you tear the bread rather than cut it, otherwise, you may sever the friendships of those present.

And a little baby sand dollar made with the scraps!

Growing up

Smiling up at Daddy

Classic Allison sitting position

The cutest little shoe ever

Head wants one thing, body wants another

Fetal position

This is not fair

Unstoppable project doer

When I quit my job a year ago to be a full-time mom, I had all sorts of plans to make fiction and nonfiction books with Nicole to teach and inspire her.  I was excited that she had left the toddler years, that she was beginning to draw competently, and that we could start being creative together.  Well, this past year didn't go quite as planned.  We did end up making about one fiction book together, half of a nonfiction book, and one book about our family vacation.  But that didn't stop Nicole from making many books on her own this year.  After we made the book about our family vacation, she has been endlessly cutting out tiny, irregular pages, drawing pictures, and writing interesting, um, "plots."  Gradually, her plots have gained slightly more cohesion.

One of her better plots was from around February.  She illustrated it independently, and then told me what the pictures were about.  1)  Nicole, Daddy, Mommy; 2)  We're climbing up a mountain; 3)  I'm sleeping under the stars; 4)  Mommy's still sleeping in the morning.  (Haha.)

A couple weeks ago, I found a book she had made, and I think it's my favorite.  It went something like this:

Sune sticr bc (sunny sticker book)

Cockadoodledoo (or some inventive spelling of that)

Boom
The flowers are booming

Is the sun brite

Yes!  The sun is brite

This is a shark she drew a few weeks ago that I thought was well done.

So, this morning, I told Nicole it was the first day of fall.  Excited, she immediately decided she was going to do a "fall project."  She asked me for a plate.  Distracted with making breakfast, I gave one to her, not expecting this to be the start of her "project."  She spread peanut butter on it, then arranged craisins and pretzels on it.  She needed another medium, so I suggested she use the rest of her cereal.  Below is what she came up with.  It's such a pleasure to see her create - and it's so nice that, in the absence of any planning on my part, she is now the planner, the executor, and the participant in her art projects.  I'm glad she's growing up!

A first

We discovered a few weeks ago that, when Daddy is holding Allison and tells her to "give hugs," she rests her head affectionately against his chest.  Then he hands her to me and we say, "give hugs," and she reaches for Daddy so she can rest her head against his chest in a "hug."  Haha.

As I may have mentioned before, Nicole and Allison love each other very much.  Allison thinks Nicole is the funniest person on the planet.  In the past, when we've walked in on Nicole sleeping in her bed, Allison has laughed out of uncontainable excitement.  Even when Nicole cries, Allison will sometimes innocently laugh at the sister she adores so.  Tonight, when she was getting off the couch, Allison accidentally hit Nicole square in the eye with her foot.  Sitting on the floor, Nicole started crying loudly.  Intrigued, as she typically is, Allison inspected Nicole with interest, examining her face closely.  I could see her curious smile hinting at the corners of her lips, and I expected her to laugh once again.  Instead, she stretched out her arms broadly and wrapped them around Nicole, squeezing her fingers in an unmistakable hug.  "Awwwwww," I cooed.  Touched by the gesture and the marvel of being hugged for the first time by Allison, Nicole stopped her crying.  And then Allison hugged Nicole again.  And then again.  The two started laughing and hugging over and over again, eventually falling over on the ground in giggles.

That Allison was able to recognize that Nicole was sad was a first, as far as I'm aware.  That she understood Nicole needed comfort was another thing.  And that she even knew how to properly hug?  I didn't know that!