Look who's talking!

I was going through my nightstand drawer a few weeks back and came across a notebook from about 5 years ago. It had lots of notes and lists in it, but one of them really stuck out. Nate had just turned 2 and were driving from Pendleton, IN to Jackson Hole, WY for a family vacation. It was August 5, 2005. Nate had been having so many problems with his ears and his hearing was clearly being affected. Matt and I were a little stressed about it and made a list of the words that he could speak clearly. The goal was to come up with at least 200 and we only had 50 listed. The good news is that he overcame that speech delay and now, you can rarely get him to stop talking! But, the list prompted me to see if Adri was on track.

There are a lot of things that set her apart from her brothers. Other than the obvious, that she’s a girl, the most distinctive is how well she communicates at her age. Now, I know there are a lot of other 20 month olds that talk more clearly than she does, but my boys were almost 3 before I could understand and communicate with them as well as I do Adri! It amazes me how her mind works, which is probably no different than any other child her age, but the difference is that she communicates what she’s thinking and feeling…and I’m just not used to that!

First off, when she wakes up in the morning, instead of screaming for me or Matt to go in and get her, she quietly (and sometimes a bit firmly, depending on how long it takes us to get in there) says, “Mommy?” or “Daddy?” As soon as I open the door, she tells me, “Me out. Me eat. Cup at?” Again, I stress that her communication skills are no better than any other kid her age, but it’s a whole new world for me. She can go into the kitchen and tell me what she wants. ..oakmill (oatmeal), soup (cereal), toast ‘n bunner (toast and peanut butter), gogurt (yogurt), banany (banana), or sometimes an apple, apple cup (fruit cup) or cold (frozen berries), while pointing to the freezer and also stressing “Up day (up there).”

She goes about her day, communicating with us about EVERYTHING she does or wants to do. If no one’s listening, she’s still jabbering! Some of her usuals are these…

“Me baby eat.”

“I eat.”

“Me baby snack.”

“Onna (I wanna) snack.”

“Nate at? Nate school.”

“Gabe at? Gabe school.”

“Onna (I wanna) play.”

“Read book.”

"I dop eat (I dropped it)."

"uh nuh ner un (another one)."

“Pay ring. Hold hand (Play Ring around the rosey and hold my hand).”

“Do it.”

“I poot.”

“Dats gwoss.”

“Dat tinks (That stinks).

“Yuck!”

“I hurt.”

You can tell by the last few comments that she has two older brothers!

And if you don’t respond to any of her inquiries or comments, she’ll add, “NNNNNOOOWWWW,” to the end of her statements.

She talks in sentences all day and even if I can’t make out all of her words, I can usually pick out a few that I do understand and figure out what she’s trying to say.

She knows all of her animals and sounds and I love that when we mention going to Mamaw Judy and Papaw David, she says, “Cow bite. Moooo.” I don’t think a cow has ever bitten her!

She knows the name of just about every food in her play kitchen. “Cookie,” is her favorite and she can spend a lot of her day, putting them in the tube, cutting them all apart and then putting on the icing.

My favorite is when I ask her if she wants something or wants to do something and she says, “Soy (sure)!” She loves pretending to do laundry and when I ask her, “You want to go downstairs?” She says, “Soy. Me help.”

I can ask my boys questions all day, and I usually do, but most of the time their answers are short and sweet. However, at night, when we’re tucking them in, they become very vulnerable and can’t tell you enough about their day or how they’re feeling. It’s one of my favorite times of day. Adri’s getting more and more verbal everyday and I can’t wait until she can tell me about her day when I’m tucking her in at bedtime!