“Mama, my hair is definitely all tanglish. You need to comb it.”
– Emily, unhappy with her own painful attempts to comb her hair after bath

“Emily, you have hair just like Mama’s– soft, smooth, shiny… and you can’t do a thing with it.”
– Mama, trying to get all Emily’s slippery hair in a neat pony tail

“Mama, I can do one thing with my hair.”
– Emily

“What’s that?”
– Mama

“I can put a hat on it!”
– Emily

“Mom, it’s too hot! I can’t eat it yet!”
– Emily

“Well, then, just be patient”
– Mama

“But Mom, patient makes me hungry!!”
– Emily

“I’m all done picking up toys!”
– Emily, with enthusiasm but not accuracy

“I see toys over here that need to be picked up.”
– Mama, trying not to sound tired and frustrated

“What else do you see?”
– Emily, after repeating her “all done” speech three more times

“Emily, I see a little girl that I love very much.”
– Mama, who was about to yell and decided it wasn’t worth it

“You know what I see, Mama? I see a big person that I love very much.”
– Emily, making Mama very glad she didn’t yell!

“Emily…look how big Daddy is!”
– Daddy, reaching up and touching the ceiling

“Wow, you pretty are big!”
– Emily, responding genuinely if not correctly

“You mean, ‘You are pretty big’?”
– Daddy, correcting Emily

“No, I’m kinda small”
– Emily, correcting Daddy

“Emily, tell Mama what happened on the way to the pizza store.”
– Daddy, embarrased

“Daddy missed the store!”
– Emily, excited

“He did?”
– Mama, amazed (not!)

“Yeah…and he turned around!”
– Emily, still excited (really!)

“He did a U-turn?”
– Mama

“No, Mama, Daddy turned around!”
– Emily

“Daddy! There’s a blue balloon and a purple balloon!”
– the ever-observant Emily, noticing the “markers” for a birthday party house

“That’s right, and how many balloons are there?”
– the ever-educating Daddy, never one to pass up an opportunity

“One, two…Two balloons!”
– Emily

“Right again! So, one plus one makes…”
– Daddy

“Two!…”
– Em

“Right!”
– Dad

“…and one makes five, and six makes seven, and eight makes nine…”
– Emily, who apparently doesn’t quite get it yet…

“Your 10-month-old ripped the door off of my kitchen cabinet!”
– Shannon’s mother, pointing out the amazing fact that Amanda is a pint-sized powerhouse. She had really done it too — pulled the door open, despite the child-lock, with enough force to separate the top hinge from the cabinet.

“That’s not a strawberry. That’s a raspberry.”
– Shannon, pointing to a picture of a bush in the book

“(giggling) BRAAAAAAAAAP!!!”
– Emily, leaning over and blowing a “raspberry” on Mama’s tummy

“That’s all there is! Sorry Charlie!”
– Shannon to Amanda, after feeding the last of the peaches to Amanda

“Mama! That’s not Charlie! That’s Amanda!”
– Emily, shocked at Mama’s apparent memory lapse