Chatterboxes

I've got a couple of little chatterboxes on my hand lately. One of them is almost 1 1/2 and the other is nearly 3...and I can't understand either one of them. Okay, okay...so maybe that's a wee bit of an exaggeration. I can understand Alex when he wants me to. Don't get all freaked out now...there are no red flags going on here. He can talk just fine. Let me elaborate.

Over the past few months, Alex has been talking more and more. He sings whole songs on his own, recites his alphabet, counts to 16 and explains the rules of the house to Abby. But in the last couple of weeks, he has developed this strange new little language. And it drives me nuts. I have no idea what the purpose of it is or what the heck he is saying when he disappears into this little imaginary world of his. Of course, I can't write down in a blog what he is saying or how he is saying it because...well...it's undecipherable. He makes up words that he uses over and over again throughout the day. When I ask him a question like, 'What kind of sandwich do you want?", he responds with some strange new word. It's very odd and he doesn't seem to be shedding the new habit. He will go off into his room and chatter on and on about things. What things? I have no idea whatsoever. He also makes up songs of his own. It's all very new and odd. I'm waiting for him and Abby to start talking in some foreign made-up language so that they can plot dangerous stunts together to freak me out.

Now Abby, on the other hand, has become the logical kind of chatterbox. She learns new words by the hour these days. She is even putting multiple words together and says partial sentences. Today she actually said, "I want cereal Mommy." It wasn't the most articulate sentence on the planet, but I understood every word of it. This is all very new to me too. Alex was not saying nearly as much at this age. She has done gone and surpassed her big brother in the verbal arena. (Yes...you read that right. I said 'done gone'. I'm showin' off my hick side) It's amazing to see how different they learn. I credit Abby's massive word index to Alex. He is always sitting with her and 'teaching' her words. It's a cute little game they play together.

Oh well, I guess if someone out there could understand the workings of children's minds, then they could become a millionaire. Until then, I suppose I'll just have to settle for wingin' it.