Alana and I walked in the door.   Beckie said “Alana!” which she’s started recognizing as her name, evidenced by when she heaves her fatty face up and throws a big bejowelled grin at you.   Then she said “blahblah” which actually in real life sounds like Mama.   She kinda sorta did the same to me the other day, its hard to know if you are the thing she wanted or just the next shiny thing.   She also kinda says Kila.

The words are slow in coming, but the voice is there.   Crying has long been a dialect unto itself, joined now by burbles of happiness, chirps of interests, and tuts or impending dismay.   All come across crystal clear and with perfect diction. We were happily playing in the dirt at the zoo when Beckie passed by chasing G, and Alana launched into a concerto of squeaks and squeals and uneven asthmatic-sounding wheezing. She does love her mama.

Again I find myself trying to match this behavior to G.   When did G start “talking”?   When did she know to use words to communicate? G continues to seem above-average in her verbal skills, and talking to her is a full blown conversation – only the simplicity of her thoughts reveals you are talking to a 4-yr old. We have been so lackadaisical with Alana in so many ways I’ve had pangs of guilt that we do not do enough, irrational remorse that acumen begins early and butterfly effects into a college scholarship or a stool at the drive-thru window. I don’t read much to either of them, though I used to much more with G – much easier when there is only 1 needy Monster to placate.

In some ways Alana gets spoken too more than G, since Genevieve is always interacting with her. It gives her 3 instructors. In some ways G talking to her is best of all, certainly G grabbing her and wrestling with her offers her companionship unlike anything her parents can give. Beckie and I talk to Alana, but G gets all up in her grill and speaks Alana’s language. Like with her starting to walk, I feel bound to stimulate her talking. It gets funner when she talks back. Maybe that’s why suddenly I’m interested?