That's my name!

Alana plays the letter game with her dad on the computer. After typing ALANA with a bit of prompting, dad asked her what that spelled. She turned to him and said "That's my name! That spells Alana!"

Rectal Flatulence

Our friend Tina brought Alana a copy of "Walter the Farting Dog" (dedicated to "anyone who's ever felt misunderstood"). It has subsequently become a bedtime favorite (of Alana's). At one point in the story, Walter is brought to the vet, who intones "Farting, or 'rectal flatulence' as we say in the medical profession". The other day, Alana walked up to AC and said, "Mommy, can I check you for rectal flatulence?" In the hospital, with a roomful of family visitors, Alex loudly passed some gas. I asked Alana, "What do they call that in the medical profession?" Without missing a beat, she replied (utterly serious), "rectal flatulence".

Welcome to the family!

Alexander was born at 11:05 this morning. He weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and measured 20 inches long. We were all very excited to finally meet him, especially his big sister, Alana. She likes to sing him lullabies and refers to him as "my Darling".

Remember where you left it...

Sometimes the things you say as a parent do actually sink in. When AC was tearing the house apart looking for something las week, Alana said, "Mommy should have put it away where it belongs so she could find it again later." In the car, AC mentioned that she didn't have her camera, because she'd lent it to Alana to take some pictures and she didn't know where Alana had left it. "On the couch with my stuffed animals, Mommy...that's where I was taking pictures." I praised her for remembering where she left it, "Alana, remembering where you put things will save you hours of time as you grow older. Some people aren't as good at remembering where they put things." Short pause. "Like Mommy?" I, of course, started laughing. AC's jaw dropped, and she shook her head. "Ouch!", she said. "That's cold!"

We're the Yos

Alana looked at me the other day and said "Daddy-O". I looked at her and said, "Alana-O". "Hey, Dad, we're the Yos!" Hmm. I guess we are!

I can roll with that...

So we had a serious talk in the car the other day about self-control, and how important it is to be able to behave without freaking out, because you're much more likely to actually solve your problems that way. Alana listened carefully (we usually keep these talks short and sweet). I asked her if she understood. She thought for a second, then said, "I can roll with that."

Shrug...

Alana has a tendency to talk faster than her brain works (I wonder who she gets that from ). The other day, she started talking and going "Um, um, um, um" so we asked her what she wanted to say. She just looked at us in a puzzled fashion after a few more "um's", shrugged, and said "I don't know...".

That cracks me up!

One of Alana's favorite books at the moment is Chicka Chicka ABC. It's about the various letters of the alphabet climbing a coconut tree. By the time we get to the end of the book where all of the letters fall down with a "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!", she's giggling away and saying "That cracks me up!"