I know I wrote about Banana the Monkey before, but I can’t get enough of Hallie and her love and concern for this floppy monkey. First off, the monkey has been sleeping with her lately. I think she likes the feel of the fabric next to her cheek. She goes in spurts, sometimes she likes silky, this week is soft and plush! I was working around her this morning, cleaning the bathroom, making the bed, getting ready for the morning, when I go to open her door to put some clothes away. Hallie, who had been standing in the hallway comes running to me very quietly, grabs my hand off the door and says ever so quietly, “No Mom, monkey’s sleeping.” Sure enough I peek through the crack and she has her monkey sitting in the baby’s bed, with a silky blanket wrapped around it. A little while later I was trying to get some things put away and Hallie kept trying to get me to do things for her. The easiest distraction for her these days, is to tell her to go cook lunch or dinner for one of her dolls or monkey and she’ll go to her room, get sidetracked and usually buy myself 10 minutes or so. Sure enough, it worked like a dream. She went to her room and started slaving away over a deliciously fake meal. Not too long after that I hear her tell the monkey to stop crying or it’ll go to timeout…as a reward she takes it shopping! (I say it, because it’s still up for debate whether Banana is a male or female!) I’m overhearing her conversations busting a gut, I can’t get enough of this girl. She emerges from her room with a large monkey shoved into a small handheld shopping basket. The things they learn…