Sign of the Times

Maya, baby genius that she is, has started signing. I think this is funny because I love the second year for all of its two-way communication and the whole word explosion thing. And here she is not even a week into her second year and she is telling us all about the lights in our house, the fan, asking for milk and more of something to eat. We always said we did baby sign language with Ella partly for the communication factor and the whole brain development thing but also because it was so stinking cute!

Ella has been cracking us up again lately. She has such a new and complex perspective of life and sometimes she says things that just catch us off guard.

We were talking about the months, the seasons, the leaves falling off the trees around Halloween and the impeding winter. She says, thoughtfully, "It's like the trees are barefoot."

I was cleaning ash with the little fireplace broom yesterday morning and she says, "It's like you are brushing the stove's teeth."

She apparently is the child of metaphor.

She was playing with her puppets, entertaining herself very well, and I asked her what they were doing. "Pilates," she answers.

I have managed to pique her interest in Dancing With the Stars by pointing out all the beautiful costumes and now she will sit and watch a few minutes with me (on DVR). She was looking at Susan Lucci and commented, "She is old." And she is right. Susan looks kind of frail. But I thought, you should have seen Cloris Leachman last week honey.

But my absolute favorite was this one:

We were all sitting at the table eating when Sandi commented about something she had tried. "I can't say I'm a fan," she remarked.

Ella, no hint of sarcasm and without missing a beat, says, "But you are a fan of wine, Mommy."

Okay, it's election day. I've been up since 4:30 a.m. and I wonder if I'll be able to stay up tonight to see who wins (not that I don't already know.) Go VOTE now (for Obama!)