The doctor asked how many words Holly was saying. I replied that she seemed to be right on schedule from anything I had read... her first word was "yak" and that had been months ago. From an early age, she used a series of noises to communicate whatever it was she needed to but since her sister had been born, she had used her soother a bit more than she had previously. The doctor suggested weaning her off the soother - if even just during the day- to see if she would use more of her words. Taking that soother out of her mouth was like pulling a plug on the Pacific Ocean and opening Pandora's Box all in one yank.
Almost immediately, she began to say or ask anything that happened to be on her mind at the time and apparently, there was a great deal on her mind. There was - and is - a constant dialogue of talking coming from her at any given moment of the day. On a trip to Toronto Airport to pick up my mother in law, Holly talked the entire way with the exception of a grand total of 30 seconds when she would be taking a drink. When we parked, my husband got out and stood with a dazed look on his face and said " I think I'm bleeding from my ears". He wasn't kidding. There have been times I've had to ask her to be quiet until I parked the car or navigated through traffic because her talking has had me so addled I've been in danger of hitting the car closest to me out of sheer confusion. There are times I simply cannot keep up with everything that is being said. Added to this, her younger sister is usually talking at the same time although not with the 'mania' Holly seems to speak with.
There have been many embarrassing times such as the day we were sitting on the front porch waiting for my husband to come home. An older lady walked by and god bless her, she didn't have on the bra she needed to. Before I could hope Holly wouldn't notice, she blurted out "Mommy... why are the lady's boobies on her belly?". In a moment that would have been the envy of any secret service agent protecting the President from an assassin, I swept her into the house and shut the door in one movement... PRAYING the woman was hard of hearing. There was also the time we were at Costco and the lady giving out samples of perogies was not only quite loud (which Holly doesn't care for) she was a bit on the manish side. In front of a gaggle of old ladies, Holly blurted out "Mommy. Does that lady have boobies or a penis? Where's her penis?". Please... Allah, Buddha, Jesus... whoever can help me. PLEASE make the concrete floor of Costco open up and swallow me whole. No such luck. The old ladies burst out laughing as I catapulted Holly in the cart down the aisle full of giant bags of cereals.
Around the time she started pre school, she decided to use alter egos, personalities and names. First was Huckle. This meant dialogues with other unseen friends. More talking. Elaborate stories including her grandfather (she doesn't have a living one) her brothers (no brothers) and other characters started to emerge and entertain us daily. Some of her personalities or friends are real jerks and after a warning that they have to follow the rules of the house, they are usually banished. We simply tell her the friend is no longer welcome here and has to go. My husband says they end up on the "island of asshole alter egos" much like the "island of misfit toys" in the Rudolph movie.
When she started school, I repeatedly told her she had to use her two ears to listen twice as much as she talked with one mouth in school. She did pretty well but according to her teachers, would go on and on at times and need to be reeled in from time to time.
She is now in grade one. The youngest in her class and loving the challenge that French Immersion provides her. She's in a grade one/two split which means she works well independently and needs a bit of a challenge. This means being quiet for large parts of the day. This also means, she needs to let loose of the many thoughts that have been trapped in her head all day. She starts talking on the bottom step of the bus which always makes the driver laugh. It usually goes like this: " Mommy. I need to tell you TWO things... FIRST of all... Second of all..." then proceeds to talk the three block walk home. It's a blur of thoughts, observations and comments: " I fell over in school today well actually Micheal at Elf Practice pushed me but not really and then the blood was gushing and I need a band aid even though it isnt bleeding now and those people have a LOT of dandelions in their garden then another kid threw up but I'm not sure what colour that was"
At bedtime, she gets two stories and three songs sung to her. She talks through most of that too. Finally, after her music is turned on, she has said she loves me and I go downstairs, I can still hear her talk until she goes to sleep. I know there will come a day when I'll yearn to hear that wonderous, childhood banter and the noise that comes with it. But for now, I'll enjoy my few moments of silence until it starts again. It gives me time to catch up with what has been said all day.
