Until recently, I never realized that this game was created by parents to keep them sane.  I know there are some of you out there who are not blessed with a child as amazing as my little girl.  She has this special talent.  She talks non-stop.  I mean non-stop.  Really.  The longest she is quiet aside from when she is a sleep (she talks in her sleep sometimes too) is maybe 30 seconds.  I am not kidding.  She talks from the time she wakes up until she breathes her last waking breath.  It is enough to drive you INSANE.  Alas, she is too ornery, young to play the quiet game.  Oh, how I have tried.  But she talks and talks and talks–

“Mommy, me no talking…MOMMY, me not talking.  MOMMY, ME NOT TALKING”  Negating the whole point of the game. While Noah sits quietly in his chair–I’m sure laughing on the inside wondering when I’ll get it.  Zoë is a girl.  A girl who doesn’t know how not to talk.

She is cute and she is talking awesome for her age.  She certainly takes the mantra “Practice makes perfect” to a whole new level.  I didn’t think it as possible for someone to talk that much.  I know that we are a family of talkers–there is rarely a silent moment at our house, but Zoë brings that to a whole new level.  She is the World, Universe Champion of Talking.  Trust me on this.  Your child cannot compete with my little fireball.  I’d be happy to let you have her for an hour just to see.  Really–an hour is probably more than you’d need.  My best friend was over yesterday morning to pick me up for our Sunday bike ride and 10 minutes was all she needed to notice that Zoë. Never. Stops. Talking.

And don’t interrupt her.  By golly don’t interrupt her.  “No, ME TALKING FIRST.  NO YOU TALKING MOMMY.  ME TALKING FIRST”  She often talks in all caps.  All. The. Time.  It is the worst in the car.  Because we are in an enclosed space and she seems to notice my head twitching as she talks loud..”MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMYYYYY.”  Noah will quietly say, “Mama, Zoë is talking to you.”

I know Noah.  Zoë is always talking.

Zoë that is.  Or Bobo as she prefers to be calls.  I am reprimanded countless times a day when I actually address her by her name “NO.  ME BOBO.”  I laugh and tell her she might want to rethink that before she goes to school.  But she is happy to be Bobo.

To say that she is a spitfire is not adequate.  There is just not a word that I know that captures her personality, spirit, stubbornness, energy, etc.  She is amazing.  She is also super friendly, but super bossy.

When we’re at the playground she is the first one to tell someone–“No do that.  That bad.”  When they are doing something she deems unacceptable–like hitting the slide or putting rocks in the wrong place.  When we are shopping she will say hi to someone and then if they come down our aisle, she’ll forcefully say “No follow me. Me no like that.”  Most people laugh but I make sure to tell her that is not nice.  But cute at the same time.  She is a whirlwind and so full of life it is a bit scary but also refreshing.  I can’t imagine the trouble and laughter she is going to bring into our world as she gets older.  But right now she is not to be messed with.