Our Favorite Little Girl

I don't think I've done a post that's been solely dedicated to Miss Allison. Since she turned 21-months-old today, and I haven't posted anything in almost a month, I thought now would be a good time! She is so much fun to be around and has been doing so many cute and entertaining things lately. Just so you know, this is going to be a LOOONG post. I'm very long-winded when it comes to bragging about my kids!

Over the past couple months, Allison has progressed to talking almost completely in sentences. She has also been working very hard to correct whatever words she hasn't been saying JUST right. This is NOT something that I am encouraging by any means. While I love seeing her progress, I realize that all of these corrections mean my little girl is growing up...TOO fast! I would much rather hear her say strawbear instead of strawberry, wadee instead of water, Me-Maw instead of Grandma, Reh-wah (Rella) instead of Cind-reh-wah (Cinderella), and I cup instead of my cup. But of course, it's all part of becoming a big girl, and nothing is going to stand in Allison's way! I'm just waiting for the day she decides to correct bee-na (banana) and oh-milk (open it) - two of my favorite things she says. Other cute things she says include: kiss it (when she has a boo boo), pwease and dank you (she is faithful at remembering to say thank you), I wah you (I love you), Dor-ah, Boots, and Wiper (Swiper), sop it (stop it), and Oh sweeeet (when she sees the picture of her and Tyler hugging on my cell phone).
Speaking of Cind-reh-wah, she has become OBSESSED with princesses over the past couple months! I don't know how this happened. I tried pushing Tinkerbell everything. But apparently Tinkerbell is so not as cool as the princesses. What was I thinking?! So I hadn't purchased anything princess related, but somehow they still managed to have sucked her in. Maybe it was our trip to Disneyland? or the fact that her cousin, Keilana, exposed her to the princess world? I'm not sure. What I do know, is that she's hooked. She knows EVERY princess by name, as well as many of their little friends like Bounder (Flounder), Bastian (Sebastian), Beast, and Prince (which can mean any one of them).
With that being said, her most favorite movie is not even a princess one. Go figure. Don't get me wrong, she enjoys the princess movies, and insists on emptying out the movie cabinet on a daily basis in order to collect all the ones bearing a princess on the cover, but her most favorite movie is Toy Story. She talks about Buzz and Woody almost as much as the princesses and can sit through the entire movie! I guess it's the result of having an older brother who loves the movie and likes watching it on a regular basis.

Allison also does other things as a result of having a big brother to idolize and immitate. (Luckily, it doesn't bother Tyler.....yet.) She loves "racing" with Tyler, as they run around the house making car sounds, and she knows who Lightning (who she used to call "Queen-Queen") and the gang are. She is very familiar with dinosaurs, loves roaring like one, and even knows who T-Rex is (surprise, surprise). But for every "boyish" thing she does, there is a girly one to counteract it. She hates for her hands to be dirty. If anything gets on them, she comes to me and says "wipe it!" She enjoys getting her finger and toe nails painted. She loves pink and purple. She loves taking care of her babies (and does an excellent job at it I might add!). She loves to "cook" and even takes it upon herself to help set and clear the table at dinner time. The only girly things I've discovered that she dislikes are getting her hair fixed and playing dress-up. She hates changing clothes, period. So getting her to put on a costume - or even a princess dress - is out of the question!

I found Allison laying in my bed like this one day all snuggled up under the covers with her baby. She was so proud of herself and very excited I was taking her picture being a good Mommy!

She also takes very good care of her monkey baby!

This is the extent Allison will go when playing "dress-up." She is a HUGE shoe fan!

Allison absolutely LOVES to sing. She sings all day long. She sings things that aren't even real songs. She sings our names or just whatever is on her mind at the time. The other day she randomly started singing, "I just can't believe it!" over and over again. It was pretty funny! Currently, her favorite songs to sing are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam. While spending the night at my parent's house a couple nights ago, Grandma and Pawpaw heard her singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in her sleep even!
She also loves looking at books and being read to. She would sit in my lap and listen to stories ALL day without getting bored. She brings books to me all the time and exclaims, "Read it!" We keep books in every room of the house so that Allison always has a book at her fingertips. When she plays in her bedroom, the bookshelf is the first thing she heads to (and empties). She enjoys sitting on her princess couch (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Hadley) while reading her collection of princess books.

Allison is a very helpful little girl. The first time she helped "set" and clear the table, she did it completely on her own accord. It is a common occurance to find Allison cleaning up a mess without being asked. She likes for things to be put back where they belong, and she wants things kept in an orderly fashion. Despite the fact that she keeps her own agenda most of the time, she is also a great little listener and, for the most part, will follow through with what I've asked her to do.
As far as other developments go, Allison has decided that she doesn't like being fed by Mommy anymore (yet another sad thing that means she's growing up). She completely feeds herself these days - even cereal and milk! She does quite well, and leaves minimal spills to clean up. Her most favorite foods are any kind of soup, fruit - particularly watermelon, "key-yope" (cantaloup), grapes, bananas, and apples, "tay-toes" (patatoes), scrambled eggs, oatmeal, and grits (that's my girl!).
She likes (and asks) to go potty when Tyler does. But that's the extent of it. If I ask her to try, it's "noooo." Only problem with wanting to do it when Tyler does is, she wants to do it LIKE him too - standing up style. I'm not quite sure how to break it to her that this won't work. We'll cross that bridge when we get there! I'm hoping that we will be able to tackle this feat soon with the help of some princess panties. I'll keep everyone updated!