Catch Phrase

It was barely a month ago that the twins went in for their two year check up with their pediatrician. When asked if we had any concerns as to their developmental status, the wife wondered if maybe their speech abilities were not up to par. We have friends with a daughter born just three weeks after our kids, and it seems that she's been putting together small sentences for weeks, while ours were busy babbling and throwing out the occasional odd word or two. Sure, they had a few parlor tricks up their sleeves, like telling you what a dog says or what a train says, but the wife wasn't convinced of their vocal prowess.

All of that has changed, and rather quickly. In fact, they have both developed their own catch phrases, and are ready to star in their own sit com. Jack's is perhaps the strongest contender, one that could rival J.J.Walker's "Dynomite!" or Gary Coleman's "What you talking 'bout, Willis?". It's beauty is in it's simplicity. When Jack walks into the room, he belts out in a cheery voice, "Hi, buddy!". He uses this to great effect several times a day. At 4:30AM, I awoke to what sounded like construction work, hammering perhaps, coming from the kids room. I opened the door to find Jack sitting in his bed, loudly banging two blocks together, his sister somehow still asleep in the same bed right next to him. When he saw me peek into the room, he ran up to me and yelled, "Hi, buddy!", as if I were an old college friend he hadn't seen in years. Cute.

Ella's catch phrase is actually dependant upon her brother. It's clear who the star of this sit com is, although her role of sister diva cannot be underscored. She is the straight man to Jack's top banana. When Jack is off playing by himself, Ella will look around for him and call out, "Jack? Whatcha doing?". It's as if she knows he's somewhere doing something he shouldn't be doing, and she's somehow in charge of keeping him out of trouble. He usually responds by running into the room, trying to look innocent and shouting, "Hi, buddy!". Double cute.

I'm proud to say that Ella can already read her alphabet. She can point to a letter and call it out by name. That girl loves to read, and it shows. They have both been working on their colors and numbers, and their vocabulary seems to be increasing every day, so much so that the wife can't believe she ever thought there was a problem just a few short weeks ago. It's funny how quickly two toddlers can change in such a short time. They seem to be making huge leaps at a time in their development these days, and it's really fun to watch.

We're all looking forward to Christmas and spending a little time with our family. It will be a long drive for us, but hopefully we'll get through it without too many meltdowns. And, who knows, we may just have some new stories to tell when we get back home. Until then, Merry Christmas, and why's it so quiet around here? Jack? Whatcha doing?