What's around the corner

Maia's been showing some interesting new skills and interests lately, ones which might be the first signs of new developmental leaps to come.

1) She's getting really annoyed with and sensitive to dirty diapers, so we're thinking we're probably going to start potty training (although I like the term "potty learning" better) soon-ish. We have a little potty for her in the bathroom already, and a step-stool that she can use to stand at the sink and wash her hands. Sometime in the next couple of weeks, we might start with more of a routine with Maia sitting on the potty a few times a day and see where that takes us.

2) She's showing some really cool "pre-reading" behaviors, like insisting upon a book being right-side-up and turning the pages from right to left only, even when she's "reading" a book to herself. She also is starting to memorize the content of particular pages in her favorite books, like Hop on Pop. Her favorite pages are "NO PAT NO, don't sit on that!" and "They call me Red." She'll say these two sentences over and over again as she turns to these pages in her book. It's so fantastically cute to see her sitting in her carseat, holding a book in her lap, all the while reading these pages out loud in her little voice. She mimics the inflection and tone that you'd use if you were reading these sentences, and it's just ridiculously adorable.

I suppose it's not a surprise that she's doing these types of things; Maia lives in a house surrounded by hundreds of books, after all. I get this distinct, palpable thrill when I see her excited by and attracted to books. They've been such a gift in my life, thanks to my own parents. I hope so much that I can do for Maia what my Mom and Dad did for me when it comes to making reading a regular, predictable, ordinary way of life.

Reading, for me, is nothing special. It doesn't have a particular time of day or a particular purpose, but rather many times and many purposes. It's as ordinary for me as eating a meal, and as frequent. It's odd for me to say that something is both "a gift" and "nothing special"; that seems paradoxical, but it's accurate. Hmmm . . .