Chatterbox

I was thinking recently about how when Tad was Rerun’s age, he did not talk.  When he was two, he had maybe 10 words, tops.  You’d never know it now to hear him, but it seemed like every single word was a struggle to pry out of him.  Which I documented on this blog at the time (if you want to really take a trip down Memory Lane, check out the Speech Therapy Saga category, where the long road to Tad’s autism diagnosis began).

Rerun?  This kid NEVER SHUTS UP.

From morning until night, Rerun is an absolute chatterbox.  And not only does he talk, but he wants to talk TO PEOPLE.  My days are spent saying “Yes?” to him, because if I don’t respond when Rerun calls out “Mom-Mom!” (which developed from “Mama” and is SO cute), he will just keep getting louder and will get right in my face to get me to look at him and respond.

While the researchers were concerned with his speech when they evaluated him just a few months ago, I know that his rate of development would please them now.  He is gaining words at an insane rate, and sometimes they are words that I didn’t know he was picking up.  He is also beginning to pick up Tad’s speech quirks, like scripting (though he is doing it for mimicry’s sake, not out of a compulsion to use someone else’s words) and certain stock phrases that only come out of Tad’s mouth (“that’s silly,” which Tad says constantly, has become “dat’s siwwy” from Rerun, who says it whenever he finds something funny).  There’s not much I can do to stop him from picking speech habits up from Tad, except to talk to him myself and hope that as he gets older, many of these quirks will work themselves out.

Meanwhile, new words picked up in the last week include Mickey, Minnie, Pete (why yes, we’ve been watching lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse – what gave you that idea?), chip (which is still interchangeable with cookie), waters (for water or any drink that is not milk) and a really clear “thank you.”  He said a version of that before, but I am already beginning to hear his diction improve on words he already knows.

He amazes me every single day.  It is a blessing to hear him gain words at a rate comparable to Ane at this age.  And even though I never seem to get any quiet (unless he is doing something that he’s not supposed to be doing – when there is quiet, there is trouble brewing), I wouldn’t trade a single chattery moment of it for anything.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2012 at 12:10 am and is filed under Children.
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