Maya is beginning to speak in full sentences! Lately, she's tacking "It's" and "It's a" onto the front of nouns, so we end up hearing a lot of "It's a ball! It's Elmo! It's Ndugu!" She can also say "I love you," which is guaranteed to melt your heart into a big, soupy puddle of mush. Of course, I can't get her to say any of these things on camera, which is driving me nuts. As soon as I turn on the camcorder, she clams up and becomes intent on replacing the lens cap or looking at herself in the viewfinder screen.

Maya is also entering that awesome and entirely too short-lived stage of Toddler Helpfulness. Yay! Yesterday I spilled an entire pint of strawberries, and Maya industriously squatted down to help me pick them up. If it's time to change Maya's diaper, I can say, "Maya, please bring Mama a diaper," and she'll do it. It's really fun to involve her in little tasks this way, and I believe it's a good way to give her attention and make her feel accomplished. This morning I tasked Maya with carrying her little totebag all the way to school, and she did it!

Also, Maya is getting so big! I mean, she's still smallish for her age, but her little legs are lengthening. I notice her full-length pants are fitting her more like capris these days. We think lots more teeth are on the way, too. She's pretty cranky lately, and waking up at night crying, and greeting me in the morning with a chin dripping with drool.

Oh! Speaking of teeth, Maya now brushes her teeth like a big girl. She and I stand in the bathroom together and brush our respective choppers. Seth and I are still teaching Maya proper technique, as Maya would rather gnaw on the bristles than actually brush. (Although, I'm not too worried. I think even chewing on the bristles probably helps clean those teeny little pearly-whites of hers.) Maya loooooves brushing her teeth. She begs to do it during the day by shouting, "Teeth! Teeth! Teeth!" and bursting into tears when we tell her she'll have to wait till after dinner.