Note: Maya turned 14 months on the February 18, but I haven’t been good about blogging so this post is long overdue … forgive me!

I know I’ve said every stage before this has been “the best” but truly this newest stage — 14 months — is “the best” — I love watching her “organize” her toys and books, “clean” (she is obsessed with Swiffing/Swiffering(?)) and figure her toys out — which shapes fit in which objects, stacking blocks instead of just knocking them over.

Thanks to school teaching her baby sign, she signs for “milk” and “all done”, and does the “diaper” sign on command — though we haven’t noticed her doing it otherwise.

She is learning to follow directions, too — she might not be able to tell me what she is doing, but if I ask her where her nose/hair/the dog is, she points to said object. If I ask her to bring me her socks from the sock bin, she will. And if I tell her to put her book on the shelf or bring me a book, she will. If I sing “lalalalala” she will repeat it (same with “rarararara”).

And she seems to know how to associate like objects now. For example, her baby dolls all get gingerly placed in her baby stroller. Shoes and socks go in the bin on her shelf. Her hair bows go in her hair (she tries to put them on but can’t do it yet). Spoons go in bowls (she’s an awesome self-feeder … though a good deal of her food ends up on the floor, in Rocco’s mouth, or on her bib).

Anyway, it’s these day-to-day interactions that have taken us leaps and bounds the past two months or so, and we can’t wait til she is truly verbalizing things to us versus pointing and making noises. (She says “mama,” “dada,” “nana,” “aiiiii,” (hi) “uh-oh,” and “dough” (dog?) plus lots of imitative sounds/inflections but not real words though she THINKS they are).

For now, we are just enjoying this early toddler stage – it will be over before we know it and we’ll be sending her off to kindergarten…

*Tear.*

How about you? What were the things you loved most about those early toddler months?