Chatterbox

According to my mother, the following three things are true: I had a fifty word vocabulary by the age of one. At two, I spoke in complete sentences and carried on mature and coherent conversations with the hairdresser at my next door neighbor's backyard wedding. And, in nursery school my teachers called me "The Girl With the Vocabulary." Whether these statements are facts or gross exaggerations is unclear, however my mother frequently boasts about my early verbal prowess to any poor soul willing to listen.

Now I find myself doing the same about my own baby. Since she found her voice many months ago, Caitlin has not stopped babbling. As soon as she wakes up in the morning, Caitlin starts talking to the stuffed monkey in her crib and the chatter does not stop until she falls asleep at night. Sometimes in the middle of the night, Caitlin wakes up for a moment, babbles, and falls back to sleep, as though she had one last thing she needed to say. Already, I predict she will be the little girl in elementary school who sits alone because she talks too much to her neighbors. She may receive all A's, except for a B in conduct due to "excessive talking." Her high school classmates may vote her, "Most Likely to Host a Talk Show." I know these things from my own experience, and thus far she appears to follow in my noisy footsteps.

Most of the time, Caitlin says, "Ba ba ba ba," "Ma ma ma ma," "Da da da da," or some combination of the three. But recently, Caitlin's nonsense syllables slightly resemble real words. Two weeks ago, we got a new puppy. When Caitlin saw Bella for the first time, she squealed, pointed, and said something that sounded really close to "dog." Now, every time Caitlin sees the puppy she says an approximation of "dog, dog, dog" over and over again. At least, that is what I believe she is saying.

Caitlin is also starting to imitate my own speech, which means I must cut back on the swearing asap. Last week Matt walked into the kitchen as Caitlin took her evening bath. I said, "Caitlin say hi to Daddy." Caitlin smiled, reached out her hands, and said, "Hi Dada!" Matt and I clapped and cheered with excitement, which prompted Caitlin to say, "Hi Dada!" over and over again.

Will Caitlin have a fifty word vocabulary by the age of one? In reality, probably not. But, in my opinion, absolutely yes.