Allison smiles, big sister style

We’ve got a new set of photos up, muchly Ben, but we get Allison in her Halloween costume, and on horseback, among other shots. (Halloween works well in the new location. Both the next-door neighbor and the folks across the street go all out with Halloween displays; I fear what Christmas will bring. But whereas lsat year in the old location, we only had 3 trick-or-treaters, this year we had to restock on stuff after something more than 150.)

She is doing quite well academically. She could still use a bit of work on following orders and not assuming that she always knows the “right” way, but erring toward the side of confidence is not the worst thing. And she’s really excited about the upcoming birthda, mostly for the presence of her pal, Chuck E. Cheese.

A plot to save our ears

What Allison has asked for for her birthday: an accordion.

What she’s actually getting: a Wii.

Higamig

Once upon a time there were two chocolate bears and they wanted to get out of the home and there were two gummy bears and they wanted to get out of the home. So the chocolate bears and the gummy bears decided to get out by pairs. “It’s a long journey back to home,” they both said. “So we have to find nice place to live because all of their friends and family have all gone.” So they found a nice leaf to float down the river on. So they jumped on that leaf before the leaf washed away on the river. In cased it rained, they would put the leaf over their heads, because they are very good swimmers. Then they got out of the water and into a nice shady tree. They were dirty there, so they needed to take a bath. And after the bath they went on again to find their family. So they went inside the throat of a person, and that throat wasn’t actually real. It was a roller-coaster ride. And they found their family. And that’s the end.

Dictated by Allison, typed by Daddy.

Allison’s busy month

First day of school

It’s been quite a month for the ever-less-wee lass. She became a big sister, got visited by some grandparents, and started kindergarten. And we have the photos to prove it all!

Kindergarten is working out swimmingly. Any concern we had was quickly wiped away with the way she was grinning at the end of the first day. The school is a convenient few blocks walk away, although some days she’s been riding her bike home (still with training wheels, and accompanied by a walking daddy, of course.)

Next weekend will bring more grandparents. Lots of other excitement along the way, I’m sure!

Things are happening

The show she says she’s enjoying is The Colbert Report; we’re not sure why. The show she really is enjoying is old Pink Panther cartoons streamed vie Netflix.

She starts kindergarten this week. On Friday, the principal gave us a call – she was offering Allison a slot in a special program. Six kindergarteners show up an hour later than normal most days, spend the day in a classroom made up mostly of first graders, then spend an hour afterward with just the six of them sharing the teacher for an hour. Now, she’s still getting the kindergarten curriculum, still lunching and recessing with the other kindergarteners, and will simply go on to first grade next year. But it seemed like a good opportunity, and local friends let us know that the teacher is a particularly good one, so we signed her up, and are avoiding letting her know that such an arrangement is anything but perfectly normal. (And for those casting your bets – yes, less-traditionally-educated daddy was more gung-ho for this than traditionally-but-extensively-educated mommy.)

No longer an only child

Big sister meets little brother

Born today, August 4th, at 8:22 AM – a little brother for Allison. For more information, see his own blog.

Making sure Allison’s band is not a bust

The other day, we were having a conversation. She wanted to form a band, and she wanted to call it “The Animals”. I pointed out that there already was a famous band called “The Animals”. So she said that she’d call it “The Mammals, because we all have hair”. I noted that having hair wasn’t the only thing that defined a mammal, so we talked a bit more about what it required, such as having mammary glands. She asked what that meant. I explained. So she decided that she should call her band “The Mammary Glands”.

I talked her back into “The Mammals”.

Today’s question

“What is one color that makes purple?”

Getting the rhythm

One thing I find fascinating is how Allison will grasp the basics rhythms of a notion without having a grasp of the particulars.

Tonight, we were hanging out at our friends’ weekly “game night”, reaching the point in the evenin where various people were reading questions off of Trivial Pursuit cards for the whole room to answer. Allison, seeing this going on, wanted in as well, so she opened a book that was on her lap and said “I want to ask a question from my question and answer book!” When we acquiesced, she queried the room “What movie is from 1879?” Laughter and various gag answers came in response. Finally, we asked her what the answer was. “The answer is: yes!”

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What she wants to be when she grows up: a Mythbuster.

As that requires an understanding of science, an abiliy to design and implement solutions, and the ability and willingness to blow things up, this meets with my approval. If one is going to be influenced by television, it is certainly better than the generation who wanted to grow up to be either a Power Ranger or a ninja turtle…

Allison’s dangerous gang

As she comes down the stairs this morning:

Allison: Did you know that things like movies and dreams and TV shows aren’t real?

Daddy: Yeah. Some movies and TV shows are real.

Allison: Yeah, TV shows like Mythbusters.

Daddy: And you saw that movie Earth, with all the animals? That was real.

Allison: Yeah.

Daddy: Did you have a dream last night?

Allison: Yeah, it had some people from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Really, just me and Mickey Mouse. And Captain Huggyface. He’s from a different show. He’s from WordGirl. And we had to fight.

Daddy: Each other?

Allison: No. There were bad guys. Some ginormous people from Sesame Street. They were ginormous. And we killed them. And a guy from the Muppets.