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Family life

My chatty toddler

Sophie talks more and more every day, but Katie says her toddler comes by it honestly.

Sophie Photo: Katie Dupuis

Today's Parent managing editor Katie Dupuis likes structure and organization. A lot. Now, image this Type A editor with a baby. Funny, right? We're sure you'll love Katie's musings on life with Sophie and husband Blaine.

It appears I have given birth to a parrot. If she started sprouting multi-coloured feathers, I’m not even sure I’d be that shocked. Miss Sophie is closing in on 20 months, and to say she talks a lot is like saying I like reading (I LOVE to read; I’d choose books over most people). She repeats everything — and I mean EVERYTHING — and right now she remembers things days later to ask about them. She keeps talking about a little boy from daycare, but he was only there for a few weeks and that was months ago; we saw walruses at the San Diego Zoo back in early June, and you’d think it just happened; and a helicopter flew over our house on Saturday during our yard sale, so you can only imagine what we’ve been talking about for three days.

I’m not at all surprised that our daughter is of the verbal order. As a kid, the only thing I ever really got in trouble for was chatting in class: “Katie needs to spend less time talking and more time on her assignments.” It’s still true. I have what the Irish call “the gift of the gab” — which is a nice way of saying that I never shut up. Over the years I’ve learned to read cues to tell when I’ve gone on too long, and Soph will learn the same. But for now, I totally love that ever-present little voice in our house. Whether she’s singing, “reading” herself a book or telling me a story, I never tire of hearing it. And neither does her dad. Video evidence attached, as he eggs her on in her rendition of “No More Monkeys Jumping On the Bed.” (The finger-wagging is my favourite part.)

This article was originally published on Jul 04, 2013

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