Hello. Here are some new things Maya is doing these days:

1. She's marching. At first I didn't know what she was saying or what, exactly, was going on when she'd shout "Mock!" and start walking around with one leg kicking up real high in a cartoon-like manner. Then, one afternoon, I played her a kids' song about dinosaurs, and during the chorus ("We are the dinosaurs marching, marching...") she started up with the "Mock!" and the crazy leg. Hee! That's when I put two and two together.

2. Maya is saying "Up! Up!" when she wants to be held or when she needs assistance climbing some furniture.

3. She can climb up and down stairs unassisted (and without crawling) if there is a handrail at her level.

4. She now seems to kind of understand the meaning of "I love you" when she or someone else says it.

5. She and her dad have this game: Seth lies down on the floor, on his back. Maya climbs onto his tummy, straddles it while facing him, then just bounces up and down maniacally, while laughing her fool head off. Seth gets a little beat up (and nauseated) in the process, but he seems to think it's worth it for the fun value.

6. Maya is trying out facial expressions. She does this truly hilarious one where she narrows her eyes to slits, then rolls them way over to one side, like she's a lookout for a bank robbery and is trying not to be too obvious. I have no idea where this came from. The other expression she's been working on is one I like to call "Mom Is Not Amused," which is quite obviously an imitation of me looking annoyed. She basically knits her teeny little blond eyebrows together and frowns.