“Mommy, don’t look over here!” Brinley says, after dumping pasta onto the ground. Sarah of course turns around to find Brin scrambling to pick up the pasta.

“And don’t tell Daddy.” she says.

Sarah asks, “Why not?”

Brinley, assuming a deep Daddy voice, “Because he’ll say, ‘Brinley, why did you do that?'”

I’m getting Brin ready for bed, and at one point I say, “Come here, my pretty girl.” Curious, I then ask, “Brin, what does ‘pretty’ mean?”

Without skipping a beat, Brin replies, “It means good, and helpful.”

Brin has one bite of dinner tonight. After much encouragement to take some more bites, Brin lets me know, “My tummy says ‘Stop eating, Brinley! Your tummy is full.’”