Little Miss Chatterbox

Audrey takes after her grandfathers. Just what every little girl wants to hear, right? She has her Grandpa Long's red hair and her  Grandpa Eldridge's long torso and short legs. She has a cleft chin and will have a gap in her front teeth, just like both grandpas (we plan to open a "Braces Fund" along with a "College Fund"). But now that her personality is coming out, she's showing a new similarity. She loves to talk. That definitely comes from Grandpa Eldridge. No one in either of our families could rival him for his chattiness, until now.

Audrey began talking shortly after we brought her home from the hospital. It was mostly grunts and I thought she was trying to tell me something was wrong but I quickly realized she was just making the only non-crying sound she could, and she liked it. The grunts gave way to an ever expanding vocabulary of vowel sounds and now more consonants steadily make their way in. She plays with the sounds; changes the intonation, tries new combinations, sometimes says them quietly, sometimes loud. She even sang along in church on Sunday.

Every morning I wake up to Audrey babbling in her crib and I lay her next to me in bed and she talks. And talks, and talks and talks. She looks so happy as she tells me about eating cake and ice cream at her best friend's birthday party, that she saw a cloud shaped like a unicorn and she can't wait for her Daddy to come home. At least that's what I like to think. At times she takes a break from havering to have a serious discussion about world issues and possible solutions, but it always ends with the carefree laughter of a four-and-a-half month old.

I can't wait until Audrey can actually talk. I look forward to when we walk down the street, holding hands, as she tells me about her day. I'm excited for when she can express her thoughts and tell stories. And then she can share her stories with her grandpas, and anyone else who will listen.