Maya's adorableness seems to be at an all-time high right now. (I realize I've said this before, but I guess she just keeps outdoing herself in the Cuteness department.)

She's just this really lovely mix of curious, affectionate, goofy, active, fun, mischeivous, innocent, and sweet. When people say they love kids, I think this is what they're talking about.

This morning, for instance, Maya woke me up by shouting for Daddy from her crib. "Daddy! Daddy! Daaaaaady! DaddyDaddyDaddyDaddy!" and so on and so forth, until I stumbled sleepily into her room and greeted her. (She did seem mildly disappointed to see me, not Daddy. But she got over it.) Then, she looked at me and asked, "Doo-doo? Pat? Kisses?" Which means, "May I please pat Ndugu and give him kisses?"

She's speaking in short sentences now. We hear a lot of "Daddy, what doing?" and "Where Toonces go?" My favorite is her "Where...is?" construction, as in, "Where cookie is?"

She's also singing along to "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Fortunately, she seems to prefer the Ella Fitzgerald version of "Jingle Bells," which is indeed a good one, so I don't mind hearing it dozens of times per day.

Seth is soooo super-excited to present Maya with her new tricycle this Christmas. Since Friday night Seth has been asking me if we can just give Maya her trike before Christmas, because he can't wait to take her to the park to use it. I have to remind Seth that Santa isn't FedEx. He doesn't do early deliveries! The trike will appear under the tree the evening of December 24, and no sooner.
:-)