OLDER BROTHERS

Allegra will never have a dull moment so long as her older brothers are nearby. Case in point:

The boys - probably Blane - had the evil genious idea to take one of the games they play with Phoebe, and apply it to their newly-crawling baby sister...
You know how you can shine a laser on the floor and a dog or cat will become possessed and chase it anywhere? So yeah, the boys started doing that with Allegra.

They were leading her in circles around the house, using only the laser, a foot or so in front of her. I couldn't stop laughing at it, and Kristen was upset that they were teasing her. Ok, it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but if you look at it from the perspective of the evil-genius brothers who figured out that they could probably get their baby sister to follow the laser beam around, it's too darn funny.

WHAT BABY HATES FRUIT?

This Baby. We have tried every single fruit, or combination of fruits, that gerber or any other baby-food maker sells, and she crinkles up her nose at all of them. I'm talking, full-on repulsion and disgust that we would try to put apples or pears or strawberry-banana in her mouth. (But anyone's shoe that's sitting within arm's reach is DE-LIGHTFUL!!)

So what does she actually like to eat? Vegetables! And meats! I'm not complaining here, just confounded that she prefers those to any kind of sweet fruit-based foods. So she enjoys peas, and carrots, and avocados even! (Both in baby food form, or the real deal.) And meat-sticks. Yeah, let's talk about that. I love a good hotdog, which is a questionable meat in the first place. But these things that we've been feeding Allegra look totally cruel and unusual. But she gobbles them down and does the hand gesture for more. Crazy kid.

DADADADADA!

Some of the first noises Allegra made consistently sounded just like, "DADADADADADA!" It probably didn't mean anything in particular, but I'll be believing that she was yelling for me (at me?) all those times.

EVERYWHERE

That didn't take long. Allegra's figured out the crawling, and the standing, and she's moving all over the house with ease. There's no more sitting still and enjoying her in one place these days... It's pretty unbelievable the things she gets into now, and the explorations that she ventures out on. I'd forgotten how into it these little ones get, and she's sure curious!