17 of 32

At 18 months we were told Kate may never walk or talk. Since she started talking, around 3 - she has never stopped.  Even in her sleep she carries on conversations.

She may talk a lot, but often she is very hard to understand. I am often repeating (translating) what she says to people, especially friends she just met (strangers she starts a conversation with). After all, she only has 17 teeth. A normal adult mouth has 32 teeth, which (except for wisdom teeth) have erupted by about age 13. In fact some of the teeth she still has are her baby teeth, there are no adult teeth to erupt, and most missing teeth are in the lower front, so tongue placement is difficult.

Recently at the pool, a couple of life guards were walking past us with a bucket full of rubber ducks. Kate saw them and said, "Hey girls,what's that?" They looked at each other puzzled as Kate started counting the rubber ducks, so I walked up to them and said, "This is why she could never be a greeter at Walmart, you would never get out of the store."

This weekend she was telling me about a Grand Finale. I was really struggling to understand what she was telling me. Pet Smart was involved in this story and so was Walmart. We have taught her that sometimes we don't "get it" when she is trying to tell us something and to tell us in different words what she is trying to say.

This was one of those times. I could see she was struggling to come up with the words to tell me, her lips would move but no words would come out. Finally she said new store.  Ding Ding Ding, not Grand Finale, Grand Opening!  There was a new store opening in Mesa... Old Navy!  Since we didn't have an Old Navy in town before this, when she was saying the name Old Navy, I had no idea what she was talking about. 

Sometimes she gets phrases or titles mixed up. Like the time I told her my shoulder was really sore and she told me to see a psychiatrist when in fact she meant chiropractor, at least that is what I hope she meant!

After all that of course we had to attend the Grand Opening of the new Old Navy smack dab between Pet Smart and Walmart. Three guesses what color shirt she bought herself.  

Remember, Share the Joy!