THE BOSS

Our princess has found her inner diva. She’s sweet as can be, but cross her and she’ll let you know it in no uncertain terms. She’s content to hang out with her brothers, being right in the mix - but the moment they try to pull something, we hear about it. ‘Bossy’ would be a good adjective for our 18 month old. Right now it’s cute, but we’re very much in trouble with this one.

SNACK MASTER

Allegra likes to snuggle into the crook of my arm while she's watching her programs. (I don't mind one bit) Once, while sitting there, she was drinking her milk from a sippy cup that she was evidently done with. I say 'evidently' because she grabbed my hand with, placed her sippy cup in it, and let go once I was holding it. I guess whatever I can do to make her life easier...

She's a field for Funyuns 'chips'. She sat next to me in bed one night just snacking on an entire bag of them. I was just laughing uncontrollably at the sight, and she didn't bat an eye, watching her show the entire time.

Last night she was restless in our bedroom. The boys were already asleep, but she wasn't fond of being put in her crib just yet. So when she left our room and went up the stairs, I thought it might be time. I found her climbing onto her brothers' beds, with a box of trail mix in her hands. I put it on the floor and brought her back to our room, closing the door behind us. She sat at the door whining to get out. When I let her back out, she went to get the trail mix and came right back. She just needed a snack to munch on while in our room!

I hope we haven't turned her into a couch potato at only 18 months...

THE RHYTHM GOT HER

The boys were quick to bust a move when they were little, dancing to the music their toys would product. But Allegra seems to be a little dancer at heart. It could be the jingle of a bell, a toy, music from a television show, or the stereo, and she just starts wiggling her little body across the floor.

It generally starts with a body wave back and forth, and before you know it, she's running around the room, jiving to the tunes. As it's been the Christmas Season, I've had a lot of holiday music playing. She get so into it that she will grunt or yell at me for those couple of seconds between tracks, because there is no music to move her!

Late at night, as she's not yet asleep in her crib, she'll watch television in bed with us. Even if it's just the little harp music from a tv show going back in time, she'll start to wiggle in her sitting position. I wish I could describe in words how precious it is to watch, but I can't. It's just something we'll have to keep firm in our mind's eye, because it's just so innocent and pure.

THE WORLD IS HER CANVAS

It's been a good couple of months now that Allegra has been eager to pick up any pen, pencil, or marker that she can find (and hold it properly!) to scrawl on something. Today, she doodles on EVERYTHING. The walls, the couches, the appliances (Kristen's Kitchen Aid Mixer has some nice blue on it now), and herself - It's pretty out of control. Frequently we get the call from the boys, "Allegra's got a markerrrr!" at which point we go running to find her.

WORDY

For a while now, Allegra has been saying "mama" and "dada". But the rest of her communications have been with her hands, head, and actions. But these days she's starting to use some more words and it's getting really fun.

Her favorite seems to be "uh oh", but we have also begun to hear the dreaded "un uh". Just for the record, I'm not looking forward to my little girl saying 'no'. We also get the call for her "bruts", or something that sounds like that, and which we only know is 'brothers', because she is pointing at them. Her last regular word is "ulk", and is usually followed by her bringing us a sippy cup to put it in when she's hungry.

It's getting fun to hear her actually using words we understand - not that anyone else can understand most of them, but that's not the point!

OUR SAVIOR

Today at church, Kristen asked Allegra who it was in the painting on the wall. Allegra replied in her developing english, "Jeja" Which obviously is Jesus. It's exciting to have her beginning to recognize things, and especially something as important as our Savior.

CHRISTMAS

A year ago Allegra was working on sitting up on her own, so Christmas was more a spectator's event for her. But this year she's mostly a sweet faced little terror. Totally ready to tear through some presents on Christmas morning!

Upon being given her first presents, she knew just what to do and got down to business. Of course the greed comes later in life, so she took her time. She'd open a gift, want it pryed out of its steel-like packaging, and begin playing with it. At the end of the day, she still has a couple unopened presents that she hadn't made her way to as of yet. But she did good, and it was fun to see her enjoy the event.

She received plenty of girly things - mostly in pink - and Kristen is thrilled to finally have some serious girl toys in the house. Of course her most favorite thing of the moment on Christmas morning, was her candy cane filled with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. She ate all of them!

REVERENT

After seeing and being a part of hundreds of mealtime and family prayers, Allegra has finally caught on. She now folds her arms at prayer time and bows her little head. It lasts for about 2 seconds before she's busy doing something else (I think she gets this from watching Tobin), but it's a good start.