"...mose savorite dirl in whoe why worowd."

As Maya and I were snuggled up on the couch, looking at a "Women's Running" magazine tonight, she said to me, "Mommy, you my mose savorite dirl in whoe why worowd." I gave her a big squeeze and kiss and said, "Awww... thank you, sweetie! You're my most favorite girl in the whole wide world, too." She looks at me and says, "No! You MY savorite dirl!" Okay, clearly this was turning into a game of ownership! I wasn't into playing "who owns the most favorite girl in the whole wide world," so I graciously conceded. Well, Will was sitting on the couch with us, though he could not see our faces because we were concealed behind a magazine, and he asked, "What about me? Maya, am I your favorite boy in the whole wide world?" Maya looks up at me, scrunches up her nose in a look of disgust, and shakes her head 'no'. (Sidenote - she's already so smart to know that if she said it out loud, her Daddy would hear her, and she didn't want to hurt his feelings! I find that fascinating!) Will, who you'll remember couldn't see her said, "Maya, what about me?" I lifted the magazine just a little so he could see what she was doing, and he said, "I'm not your favorite boy the in whole wide world?!" She said, "No!" He asks, "Then who's your favorite boy?" Maya explains what she makes sound to be so blatantly obvious, "Buddy! Buddy my savorite boy in whoe why worowd! You my savorite Daddy in whoe why worowd." Awww....

Also, in church today, Maya was the only kid to go up to the steps of the alter for the Children's Message, so she got to have some one-on-one time (in front of a very captive audience) with our lay-pastor, Donna. At one point, Donna asked her if she has any brothers or sisters, and Maya told her, "I have Buddy!" Donna looked at me for an explanation, so I explained, "She has one brother, and she calls him 'Buddy'." I think she single-handedly warmed the hearts of every person in the congregation. I'm so proud of her!

Liam is starting to build a little vocabulary, too! A few days ago, he was standing in his crib, arms outstretched, saying, "Down! Down!", and today, he was standing in the bathtub (clearly done with his bath), arms outstretched again, saying, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" (out, out, out!). What a smart boy! He also says, "Hi!", "booh" (book), "Wheee!" (while going down slide), and one of our personal favorites, "Uh-uh-oh", "Uh-oh", or "Uh-oh-oh"... it varies all the time, but it's just as funny every time! His first and second words ( at about 11 months and favorites of ours) were "Bock!" (bonk - said while he is favorite head-butting game, laughing and smiling all the while) and "Whoa!" (said whenever he fell down). He also makes a little high-pitched "ruh, ruh!" sound whenever he sees a puppy, meows like a kitty when he sees a cat, and in the doctor's office this week, he roared at a painting of a lion on the wall! It was so funny! He was standing there, looking at the mural, and let out this, "roar!" (think baby Simba, The Lion King). Dr. Sterenberg looked at Liam, then looked at me and asked, "Did he just roar at that lion?!" Laughing, I said, "Yes, I think he did!" He's building his vocabulary VERY quickly! He's just so smart!