Allison has discovered the belly laugh. I think even at this age, she realizes the healthy benefits of a good laughing fit. The bonus for mom and dad is that her giggles are contagious and typically send us into fits of laughter too. I started tracking the things that set Allison off and it’s a bit frightening what she finds funny!!

• Mommy running through the Wal*Mart parking lot in the pouring rain while carrying three bags of stuff, a diaper bag and of course Allison. Did I mention I was also wearing flip-flops and apparently parked in an area prone to flooding. As I was trying to get Allison in the car, the puddle of water came up over the top of my feet leaving me utterly drenched while Allison continued to laugh hysterically in her car seat.

• Daddy or mommy attempting to do abdominal crunches on the living room floor. I don’t know if it’s the red-faced grunting or the simple act of our heads appearing and disappearing over our knees that Allison finds hysterical. Of course we also become the ultimate playground for her to crawl all over when we are in the crunch position.
• I can’t for the life of me figure out why this one is so funny, but for Allison it’s a riot when I clean my glasses. I think it’s me breathing on them that makes her laugh, but who knows. It could be the memories of her grabbing them with her sticky little hands and getting the prints all over them in the first place that makes her laugh.
• Allison loves her Maxwell-doggy. She is totally enamored by him and when he catches a ball, she falls over laughing.
• One of the great joys of having a staircase in the house is having a banister attached to said staircase. The base of the banister is where Allison’s toys are stored (against the wall along the banister). So when mommy is putting toys away and not paying attention she sometimes stubs her toes on the solid wood banister (probably the only thing in this house that’s solid wood). Anyway, the act of me writhing in pain and hopping on one foot with tears streaming down my face is one of the funniest things in the world to Allison.
• Now that Allison is walking all over the place, she is learning new ways to torture Max. When she really gets going she’ll chase after Max with her walking toys. Most of these toys already make noise (which Max does not enjoy) and when you add Allison Chasing him with the noise-making toys. He is not amused, but Allison sure is.

This is getting long, I’ll save some for another time!

As Allison continues to amaze us with her growth and the development of her personality, we are in awe of her understanding of what is going on around her.

Her first phrase was, “all done.” She’s been saying it for several weeks, sometimes at the appropriate times and sometimes she says it just to say it. But recently she’s become more aware of just when to use the phrase correctly.

For example a couple weeks ago we were across the street playing with the neighbors. It was getting close to Allison’s afternoon nap time, but she was having a good time so we didn’t push her. All of the sudden she stopped playing and said, “all done,” and turned around and started walking towards our house. I picked her up and asked if she was all done playing. She began to wave bye-bye. So off we went. Once we got home I asked her if she wanted to go rock, (our code for nap time) she proceeded up the stairs. Within about 90 seconds of rocking, she sat up and reached for her crib, so I set her down and off to sleep land she went.

She knew she was tired and it was time for a nap. I happily obliged her request. Nap time is usually such a battle in this house. It’s been so nice now that Allison is starting to recognize her own sleep signs and heading up stairs to the rocking chair when she feels the need to sleep.

Of course she has also figured out that when she is eating something that she doesn’t particularly care for (green beans or carrots), she’ll proclaim, “all done” after a couple bites. Or when momma or daddy is doing something other than paying attention to her, she’ll tug on our leg and say, “all done.” She’s getting to be too smart for her own good!