Babel / Babble

Today is Monday. On Saturday night, in the deep depths of sleep, you swam forward into language. Yesterday morning, you couldn't stop talking.

Now let me be clear: you have cooed and gurgled and chortled before, mostly on your changing table and generally for short periods of time. But yesterday the sounds came as you sat with me at the kitchen counter, watching Ricki make pancakes, and as you bounced on the exercise ball with Peter and as you lay on the spare bed alone, staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to descend.

And your mouth! Your lips opening wider and stretching further to allow bigger sounds. And your tongue! Twisting into corkscrew shapes, testing the edges of your gums and the sides of your cheeks to see what sounds might be found there.

Last night, home from Ricki and Peter's and the gingerbread extravaganza (which you slept through entirely!), having finished your bottle and having received a clean diaper, Daddy snuggled you into your crib and came back into our bedroom to sit beside me on our great, comfortable mattress. Usually, you fall asleep within 10 minutes, but last night you talked and talked, unable to settle down. We laughed and laughed, happy for the chirps and coos and murmurs.

45 minutes later you were still talking, keeping yourself awake I suppose, testing the air with your new sounds and hearing them return to nest inside the pink curves of your ears.