On things you don’t want to hear when you know she has a plate of tomatoes: “I made juice.”

On how she knows she doesn’t like that soup: “When I was in your belly, I grabbed some food and tasted it and said, ‘Yuck!'”

On sing-song things overheard from the next room: “My butt is touching you, Gabe.”

On what she wants to hear: “Tell me the story of when Henry went out and met a skunk and the skunk got him! It isn’t usual but you’ve just got to tell it.”

On whether I should put a hat on the dog mannequin : “The dog would look strictly not beautiful with that on.”

On doing needed repairs: “It was walking like princesses, so I had to fix my body.”

On the top of the hunger scale: “I’m 16 hungry.”

On 60 miles per hour: “I can run way faster than we’re going right now.”

On the top of the energy scale: “I has 16 energy, Dad.”

On me telling her to be careful on the arm of a chair: “I’m sure you are right, but there’s lots other animals like us.”

On the photo of Leonard Cohen: “That’s a picture of my real dad.”