Dorothy was drawing trees in a forest, and each one was distinct and asymmetrical. "Look at my out-of-shape trees," she said.
Dorothy kept asking to go to the playground, and I kept making other suggestions. "Why do you keep dis-encouraging me from going to the playground? Every time I say I want to go to the playground, you dis-encourage me."
We were on the third morning of Christmas vacation, and Dorothy came into my room where I was sleeping and woke me up: "Mom, I want to go to open the Lego calendar, but I wanted to wake you up first, because once Daddy sees me, he won't let me come back here and wake you up."
If you mention that Dorothy's front tooth is getting looser, she'll break into a loud series of "Th...th...th..." to illustrate.
Dorothy watches Lego videos online and has learned the lingo. Now she'll describe any character, including baby dolls, by their various joints: "This Baby Born Surprise has five articulations: her neck, and both arms and both legs."