Silence is Golden - Why? Because!

I often decribe Brianna as "talkative." Well actually, that's a major understatement. The child never stops talking from the moment her eyes pop open in the morning until she goes to bed at night. She just has lots to say...and even if she doesn't really have anything pertinent to say then she'll have conversations with her pretend friends, (doing both sides of the dialogue), sing a made up song with nonsense lyrics, or she'll just be giving a running commentary of what she's doing, as she's doing it. Yep, it truly never stops.(Sometimes I feel like my ears might actually bleed!) Now, even though it makes for lots of background noise, all this talking isn't really a bad thing. First off, for safety reasons - she can tell you her full name and address quite clearly. Secondly, you can have really interesting conversations with her, she can recount things in great detail to you and she often says funny little things. So, it's fun to talk with her. And it makes parenting a little easier because she can tell you what she needs, as opposed to the days when "ba" could mean, "I need my diaper changed," "I'd like to eat," or "I want that toy."

On the other hand Bree being so verbal is a little frustrating because, well, she can tell you what she "needs" (read as every little whim that pops into her head). And it's kind of a blow to the ego to lose a debate to the logic of a 3 year old, which it seems I quite frequently do.

So, just due to the sheer volume of the dialogue, I have to really concentrate just to keep focused on what all she's talking about and give appropriate responses. Sometimes I miss my cue when I've drifted off for a minute and then I notice (rarely) that there's a pause and she's staring at me expectantly. :)

To add to all of this already going on Bree has now entered the infamous "why" phase. (Or, she's in it again. It seems to come and go.) Asking "why" to everything turns what should have been a 30 second conversation into a good 5 minute one. Now, I think asking questions is good and all that so I usually try to answer the "why" but despite that, after 10 why's asked in response to the answer to the previous why, these session usually end in me finally either not knowing the answer or getting tired of answering and me going, "I don't know why...just because." A phrase that makes me feel so much like a mother. :)