Jabberbox

Bonus! Two posts today! :o)


Landen has been my little jabberbox since he was born. He has his Dad's social nature and loves conversation. He was only a few months old when he started making a growling sound from morning until night. He was happy as could be--he just needed to make noise. He was the only baby at his daycare and basked in the attention Vickie and his friends Thomas and Tess showered upon him.
After the growling passed, he started with his own Landen language. We couldn't understand much of what he was saying until he turned two, but before that he could converse in jibber jabber like no one I have ever seen. Always the socialite, it made some people uncomfortable when toddler Landen "talked" to them because they didn't know how to answer him. I just assured them that we didn't know what he was saying either--we just nodded or said, "Oh!" and that made him happy.
When he finally got the hang of speaking English, there was no turning back. We found out he had absorbed quite a lot while his brain was figuring out language. At 5, he now has quite the vocabulary, frequently telling me he would be "delighted" to help or he "enjoyed" something he did. He is also a very "curious" (his word) learner and has tons of questions.
I just wish some of the questions had easier answers! Most of the time I just answer the really tough ones with "because that's how God made it" and that usually satisfies him. Some are particularly sweet, like early last summer when he asked me if Teresa would be a baby forever, or a few weeks later when he asked me if we could keep Teresa forever. In a previous post, I mentioned how he recently wondered when she would "talk like a human." I never know what is going to pop into Landen's head next, but I do know he will share it with me as soon as it does!
One particular funny conversation happened awhile back when he was wondering how Teresa came out of my tummy (he has never been concerned with how she got in there in the first place). It went something like this: "How did Teresa get out? Did it Teresa hurt? Were you asleep? Can I have some more macaroni and cheese?"
That brings me up to last night. Determined to keep speaking right up until the last second before their bedroom door was closed for the night, Landen asked me one final question, "Mom, Where do they make wooden barrels?"
My answer? "I don't know. Ask your Dad in the morning."