Baby doll reading

We found this scene arranged by Allie

Messy desk

Allison last night, after sneaking out of her bed to sleep on the floor

I may have mentioned that Allison has a fairly tidy personality--at least she likes picking up toys, LOVES folding clothes, and always eagerly helps unload the dishwasher (which makes the task get done much more quickly than if I didn't have her help, because I have to race to grab each of the dishes from her before she drops them).

This morning, Allison saw Nicole's desk and exclaimed, "Adoe's desk is a mess!"  And she proceeded to clean Nicole's desk by throwing Nicole's things into the play room, all the while muttering, "Messy, messy, messy."

This afternoon, we overheard their argument...

Allison:  "Your desk is a mess!"
Nicole:  "Here, I put things under it.  That's the only way to clean it."
Allison:  "Your desk is a mess!"
Nicole:  "Not anymore."

In fairness, the state of each of their desks is fairly equal:

Nicole's desk

Allison's desk

My plan

Allison's blankets and dolls

My plan worked, mwahaha!  Both my girls love books!

I decided before Nicole was born that I would read to her every day.  I pretty much stuck with that--every single day from the day she was born until around age 5, I read her at least one book.  I didn't really do that with Allison, although now I read to her every day.  However, likely thanks to Nicole's love of books, Allison loves them too!  Nicole loves to get huge piles of books and read through them, and Allison frequently sneaks out of bed to look at picture books.  She takes her blankets and pillow out of her bed and snuggles behind the half-open door, using the light from the crack, and tucks her dolls in beside her as she looks at the pictures.

Reading at bedtime, with permission

Bedtime mischief

Reading during nap time!

Also, we made cookies this week:

Snow

All bundled up enjoying the snow last week!  (I'll add more pictures to this blog post when I add them to my computer.)

Our tiny student

Allison has been asking more questions lately.  When I would read a book to her, she would interrupt me and ask, "What is 'Hypothesis Two'?" or "What is 'test was a flop'?"

So when we were sitting around the dinner table the other day, Daddy and I were joking around, and Daddy was mid-sentence, saying, "...and then you extrapolate from the empirical data--"  All of a sudden, Allison interrupts:

"What is data?"

Daddy and I both turn to her, cocking our heads, and see her sitting up straight in her chair looking at Daddy like a little school girl waiting for the lesson of the day.

At the children's museum grocery store,
Allison was very procedural about "scanning"
 every single individual item and pushing the
 "scan" button to make the characteristic "beep."

Story time

Daddy interviews Allie about a monster book:

The finder

Allison seems to have an uncanny awareness of where things are located.  We noticed this a couple weeks ago.  I'd say, "Nicole, where's your backpack?"  Without skipping a beat, Allison would say, "It's over here," (pronounced "owuh hiew") walking us back to Nicole's room.  Or, "Allison, where's your chewy toy?"  And she would say, "It's on my bed."  Or, "Where the purple blanket?"  "It's on the couch."  I suppose this comes with maturity, but even I'm never quite sure where things are - I have to double-check.  It might also be Allison's youthful confidence - she just assumes the items are wherever she saw them last.

Below are some pictures of Allison making a funny face she's been making lately - she opens her eyes wide and forms her mouth into an "O" in surprise.

She tucker herself in the other day