Every parent thinks their kid is the cat’s meow, and I’m no different. Every day, Maya is learning new things — at home, at school, out and about … I’ve said before that I’m blown away by what Maya knows and she never ceases to amaze us.

Some recent developments:

She knows the words for shapes I didn’t know she knows, like triangle (“tee-ang-uhl”) and circle (“cer-kel”)

She knows which animals are hiding under puzzle pieces and blocks.

She knows who is a boy and who is a girl –and is right most of the time.

She knows the Spanish equivalents for some animals: dog, bear, cat, duck, chicken, cow, octopus and monkey.

She’s stringing words together more and more to form little sentences. “I did it” “Daddy play racquetball.” “Mommy Zumba.” “Maya get toothbrush” “What happened?” “Not yet!” “Hurry up!” “Ees ‘nowing ou-side.” “Where Daddy go?” “Have fun”, “Sweet d[r]eams.” And her longest sentence to date: (said slowly, as though she’s formulating something amazing) “LaLa … give … Maya … panda bear … jammies.” (next only to “Santa Claus … coming … town.”)

She knows our friend’s dog (Polly), Grandmama’s kitty cat (Bea), Minnie Mouse’s kitty cat (Figaro — pronounced “Feek-a-roh”), our neighbors (Lily; James) … she knows every kid in her class’s name, her teacher’s names, her best friend’s parents’ names, her Mickey and Sesame friends’ names. She remembers who visited us this past weekend (“Grandmama POP”), how they got here/left (“airplane” pronounced “ai-pahn”), and where my sister lives (“New YORK!”).

Her favorite color is purple (“puh-pul”) and her favorite car is a “Beemer!” (that is ALL Daddy!)

She’s insistent when she wants a specific song. “Row row!” “Happy Birthday!” “Santa Claus” “Baa” “Star” “Snowman.”

While my parents were here, she started answering questions with “I don’t know,” with a shrug of the shoulders — very yenta-like … a throw-back to her Jewish roots and the great-grandma she is named after.

(This video from after they left captures the cuteness)

She can “sing” … and much better than her tone-deaf mama 😉

She knows her full name.

Reading all this/watching these videos, you probably think I think my kid is just amazing … and I do. But she’s also a toddler … and toddlers are their own little people.

For as exciting as these new developments are, with them come her assertion of independence. Being a toddler is hard. Even though she can say some things, she isn’t in control of her emotions and her reactions to situations — so it’s not a walk in the park.

We’re definitely dealing an opinionated toddler who tells us “No Mommy!” or “No Daddy!” and throws a fit if she can’t do something/have something she wants at that.exact.moment. (Hello, how is she supposed to learn if she gets what she wants all the time!? I’ve surprised myself with being tougher than I envisioned myself being).

She has earned herself several time-outs (“breaks”) in recent weeks for acting up — throwing food from the table, feeding Rocco her dinner, tossing toys … Meals out used to be a piece of cake and now … not so much. And shopping? A joke. I’d much rather go shopping on my lunch break at work or after she goes to bed. It’s just so much easier to go alone!

All that said, even with the good, bad and ugly … we couldn’t love her more and this stage has been just incredible.