A Huge Breakthrough: Yes and No

Most people take for granted that their kids will be able to answer questions with a "yes" or "no" at some point early in their lives. One of the red flags to us in Maya's first few years is that she would not use yes and no to answer questions. For instance, when she was 3 or 4, we would say, "Maya, do you want a piece of pizza?" and if she wanted it, she would either reach for it or say "pizza". It got a little more complicated if you asked her to make a verbal choice. "Maya, do you want pizza or chicken nuggets." "Chicken nuggets." But then we wouldn't always know if chicken nuggets was her choice or if she was just repeating the last word she heard. When she was 4 she seemed to be doing well at saying what we thought her actual choices were and we tried to provide her with a lot of opportunities to make choices, so her speech and ability to answer questions and make choices was definitely on the upswing.
About 2 months ago, she started using yes and no! I thought it would be something she would gradually get used to, but it was like turning on a lightbulb. Once she got it, she really got it. So now if we say, "Do you want a piece of pizza?" she might say "yes" or she might say "pizza", but if we say, "Do you want a piece of pizza, yes or no?" she will say yes or no. We have also tested it out and she means what she says, she is not just repeating. This was a huge breakthrough for her and we are so happy about it.