3% of 25 minutes is about 45 seconds—and that's being generous

While I was on my way home from work, Karen and Rich were on their way out of Target. They called me on the bus, and Rich soon wanted to chat with me. And—no joke—he talked to me for 25 minutes straight! I was exhausted by the end of it. Can you imagine holding a 25 minute conversation with a 21-month-old who can’t speak in sentences? He just jabbered and jabbered and jabbered. And he knew when I wasn’t paying attention because I’d go silent for a few seconds. He’d get me back in by yelling “Daddy? Daddy?” and I’d ask him more questions and then he’d just jabber some more. Longest conversation I’ve had with any one person in a while and I understood about 3% of it. Rich loves to practice talking. He is so much fun.

Not old news to Rich, apparently

Karen and I ate dinner before Rich came home from his cousins' house tonight, but we sat with him while he ate before shower time. As Karen fed him some quinoa mixed with beans and corn, Rich and I exchanged his toy phone (one of my old cell phones) in conversations here and there. Here was one such “phone call” that I answered and passed on to him.

ME: (on the "phone") Hello?...Yeah....I see....Well I don’t—...Yeah, I think that’s old news though....I don’t know....I guess, but he might not want to hear it....Okay, well you’re welcome to try.

I handed the phone to Rich and quietly said to him, “It’s for you.” He took the phone and put it to his ear.

RICH: Hello?...Yeah....Yeah....Oh?...That’s awesome!...Oh....Bye.

Karen and I laughed. It was one of those perfect moments we wish we had on video.

The toddler speaks

Rich is picking up new words and phrases at a very rapid rate. Several times a day I ask him to say something and he gives it a try. Here’s an exchange that happened this afternoon.

ME: Richie, say Grant.

RICH: ...

ME: Richie, can you say Grant?

RICH: Ken.

I think that one went well. I asked him a few more times later and he said Ken again. Here’s another one, my personal favorite for the day. It happened in the car.

ME: Richie, we’re going to Cafe Rio to get some dinner.

RICH: ...

ME: Richie, say Cafe Rio.

RICH: ...

ME: Richie, can you say Cafe Rio?

(brief pause)

RICH: Yes.

After dinner I decided to head upstairs to use the bathroom before Rich’s shower. He still sat in his highchair, so I kissed Karen and then kissed Rich and headed up. But as I gave him a kiss on the head he said, “Hi!”, which cracked me up. He usually says “Bye” if anything, so it surprised me.

Conversations with a 16-month-old

Brock and Erin and the kids came over after church to see us and Richie. Violet is pretty independent, so she didn’t exactly take to Rich and play with him right away, but all the kids ended up playing together and having a good time. Rich LOVES to talk, so he gave Brock and Erin an earful of information that no one understood, but we all loved it.

The same thing happened at Logan and Amy’s for dinner. He especially loved Austin for some reason, so he walked around Austin for a little while and talked his ear off. He paced back and forth and explained whatever was on his mind. Austin loved it and nodded and smiled big and everything. Other than that, Richie just explored all he could while Jonas followed him around and told him what he couldn’t touch. In fact, Jonas was so sweet to Richie. I think Rich is to Jonas the little brother he doesn’t have.