Learning the Lingo

It should come as no surprise to anyone that The Ducklings are quite verbose.  Then again, most two year olds love to chatter at full volume, so I know we're not the only ones who spend a large amount of our days listening to them banter away at us and at each other.  Personally, I love it.  I get such remarkable insight into their personalities, likes and dislikes.  It's amazing to hear them express themselves so proficiently.  Sometimes, I almost forget I'm talking to a two year old.  Other times, well, it's pretty obvious...  "Colin take it!" is a frequent wail, although we have thankfully avoided the dreaded "MINE" for now.

I don't know if we'll get to the "why?" stage, but we have been at the "wappened?" (Ducklingspeak for "what happened?") stage for a while, as well as the "what ______ doing?"; as in "what man doing?", "what garbage truck doing?" or "what toast doing?".  Some of these questions are easier to answer than others.  Keith loves to point at things he can easily identify and ask "wuzzdaaaat?".  The game is to turn it around and ask him what it is so he can beam proudly and reply.

Today at lunch, Colin gave Keith some of his nectarine and Evelyn said "Thank you, Colin, for sharing".  Then they spent a good few minutes thanking and you're-welcoming each other.  It was a total love in.  This is forgetting that earlier on in the morning, they were at each others throats (um, literally) over a mouse puppet, stickers, a variety of books and my ever diminishing lap.  It's a shame that wrestling will no longer be an Olympic sport, because I have three shoe-ins.

As I've mentioned previously, our nap routine involves putting one down at a time, and waiting for the previous child to settle.  Even though it isn't the most efficient method, it does serve numerous purposes; one of the most important is one-on-one time with Mummy and Nana as they get their diapers changed, or chapstick and cream put on their faces.  Keith gets a tiny glob of Penaten on his finger which he insists on shoving up his nose.  Compared to other objects that have made that same journey, cream is much less objectionable.  Colin is the last to bed, and he loves to dreamily cuddle his stuffed puppy on the change table while waiting his turn.  This afternoon, he took a small crocheted doll hat and put it on his puppy announcing "Puppy, you are so beautiful".

Sigh.  Yes, these are the good days.