I need to figure out a way to organize my blog so all my Maya growth/development posts aren’t mixed in with the others. Please bear with me until I get that set up! Post is after the jump.

Recently, we’ve been able to have little “conversations” with Maya. Not just us asking her a question and her answering us what color something is or her answering yes or no … we’ve been having actual, mini conversations with her.

This was our dinner chat last night.

Me: “Did you have fun at school today?
Maya (nodding): “Yes.”
Me: “What did you do?”
Maya: “Maya runny runny HAR-RI-SON. OW-EN. A-VA.” [friends from school; this is probably true].
Luis: “What else did you do?”
Maya w/ sad face: “[XYZ friend] push MAYA. E-I-E-I-O.”
Luis: “Someone pushed you? When you were singing -E-I-E-I-O?”
Maya: “Yeaaah.”
Me: “Did you get a boo boo?” (oops, shouldn’t have asked!)
Maya: “Yeeeees.”
Me: “Oh no! Where is your boo boo?”
(She showed us her hand).

Now, this is clearly not the conversations of great films or novels, and I don’t pretend it to be … but it is a dialogue of sorts, and we’re seeing more and more of them now. I love watching her little mind work as she decides what to “tell” us. It’s literally like wheels turning!

She didn’t get an ouchie report at school so there was no injury or anything to report, but considering the fact that a couple weeks ago her little friend pushed her (in front of me at pick-up) and she still remembered it two weeks later, I’d bet someone probably did push her today, too. Toddlers push and play. Who knows what really happened, but the fact that she can tell us now is pretty cool. Of course, we also have to remember toddlers also tell tall tales … and we can’t trust that everything she says is gospel or that she understands everything happening around her

[Case in point: this weekend Luis left to go to the store and Maya told me “Daddy get GrandmamaPop”  … no, sweetie … Daddy was going to get milk and they’re back in NJ … but she did remember they had been here, so that’s something, and she “talks” about them often which warms my heart — and theirs!].

She’s also started “counting.” This weekend at breakfast we noticed she was quietly organizing her clementine segments and heard her softly counting to herself. “One. TWO,” and lifting each segment up as she counted. After some praise, we gave her a third and she still said “one, two” but then she caught on. And while sitting on the potty last night (doing nothing, mind you … just sitting there “practicing”) she was playing with these little cups on her feet, counting “one, two, OFF!” (taking the cup off her foot as she said “OFF!”). I couldn’t help but crack up with her. She looked absolutely ridiculous, sitting there on the potty playing this game over and over. I even got it on film — but that is NOT going on her YouTube channel 😉

It’s remarkable how much has been trapped in that little brain, just waiting for the right moment to share it with us. I’m absolutely loving this stage and looking forward to what’s to come.