"Why?"

I love watching my children develop.  One of the most fascinating aspects to me is the universal language development.

Adina's first two words (way back when she only knew 2 of them...) were "Hi" and "Yea."  That is her personality.  It's amazing how early that came out.

Two of Ze'ev's first two words were, "No" and "Mine."  Now I am not saying these two words are his personality per say.  I believe that having a 2 1/2 year old sister at the time that he was learning how to talk influenced his word choice a bit.  Just this week, he started also responding with "Ya."  Joy to my ears!  For a very long time all I heard was, "No no no no no."  He is very cute when he says it, but "Ya" is nice to hear too.

The real thing that has fascinated me this past week is Adina's perfectly timed development.  What do all the textbooks say is a 3 year-old's favorite word?
"Why?"

Well, one week before Adina's third birthday, the "Why"'s began.  I was giving her a bath one day, and I said, "Please lean your head back."
"Why?"
"So the water doesn't get in your eyes."
"Why?"
"Because you don't like water in your eyes."
"Why?"
"I don't know.  Why don't you like it?"
"I don't know.  Why?"

At this point I just laughed.

How classic.

And we've been having conversations like this multiple times a day ever since.

Do three year olds really want their "Why"'s answered, or do they just really like asking it?