Five Minutes of Conversation on A Single Second’s Worth of Vocabulary: the Babies Begin the Odyssey of Speech

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

“Oh, Emily, that’s not your book. That’s Timmy’s book. Here, you can have a book of your own. Here’s your book.”

Anna looks up. “Buh!”

“Book! Good for you, Anna! Emily and Timmy have a book. Book. Does Anna want a book?”

“Buh.”

“All right. Here’s your book.”

Timmy looks over with interest. “Buh!”

“Book! Atta boy! Yes, Now Anna has a book, too.”

Anna waves hers perilously close to Emily’s head. “Buh!”

“How about that! You can all say ‘book’! Book!” We share delighted smiles. (Though really, should I be surprised that this is one of their first words at Mary’s house?) Emily laughs out loud. The babies are quivering with the joy of being able to say a word and be understood. There are few thrills like it. Me, I’m awash in the cuteness of my little “buh” triplets. We share a moment of joyfulness.

“Anna has a book. Timmy has a book.”

Not to be left out, Emily adds her two cents. “Buh!”

“Yes, Emily has a book, too. There are three books now. One, two, three.”

“Buh!”
“Buh!”
“Buh!”

Heh, three babies, one word. “Look at all the books. A blue book, another blue book, and a yellow book.”

“Buh!”
“Buh!”
“Buh!”

“Are you all reading your books?”

“Buh!”
“Buh!”
“Buh!”

“Lots of lovely books.”

“Buh!”
“Buh!”
“Buh!”

Well, I think I’ve milked this for all its conversation potential. Until their vocabularies expand a bit, this will be what passes for small talk at Mary’s.

“Buh!”
“Buh!”
“Buh!”

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© 2006, Mary P