Pwincess Bwide

When Sir James turned three he still hadn't begun speaking. He reacted to loud noises and would sometimes respond when given simple directions, but no speech. Miss Nichole has some significant hearing loss so I thought I would take them both for another hearing check up before she became an adult and moved on with her life.

His hearing tests came back normal. Puzzled by this, I started doing some amateur sleuthing (internet surfing) to find an answer. I came across one person's theory that younger siblings tend to have speech problems simply because they are younger siblings and aren't required to talk for themselves.

Intrigued by this hypothesis I became an ardent observer of Sir James and the speech habits of the entire family. What I discovered was a complex system of communication that would baffle even a highly trained professional. Especially where my Five-Pack of little boys was concerned.

Miss Sarah has the most unusual ability to talk while breathing in. Scientist will tell you that this is physically impossible, but I promise you I have witnessed this for myself. Especially when she gets excited.

Sir Tom has large gaps in his teeth which cause a slight hiss at times and since Miss Sarah is just older than him, her breathing in techniques were passed on as well. Sort of. He speaks really fast, takes large gulps of air while doing so and the whole shebang is intermingled with extended S sounds.

I've always found all of the above adorable.

Sir Matt is the next in line and was blessed with very large (and if you ask him, very kissable) lips. Being trained to utter words by Sarah and Thomas and their idiosyncrasies, and then added upon by his uniqueness, he has the cutest fast talking, deep breathing, huge smiling, lisp lingo ever. I love it!

Then comes Sir Sean. We haven't figured him out yet. He has a Brooklyn accent. Absolutely no idea where that came from but we're keeping it. Could just hug him every time he speaks. Teenaged girls swoon at his feet whenever he utters a word.

That brings us back to Sir James. I don't think his lack of verbiage was a result of not having to speak, but rather not having any consistency as to the mechanics of the deal. Really. Wouldn't you be confused, too?

His mouth isn't helping. He has one of those touch-the-tip-of-your-nose-with-the-tip-of-your-tongue set-ups.

At any rate, we decided to put our shoulders to the wheel and all work to help him out. He began to talk but no one could understand him.... for nearly a year. Then a friend suggested that I make him smile when he tried to say important words. Huge success!

We still have our work cut out for us. Everyone pitches in. Today I heard Miss Sarah patiently helping him with a new word.

Sarah - say "in".
James - "in".
Sarah - say "con".
James - "con"
Sarah - say "ceive".
James - "ceibe".
Sarah - say "able".
James - able.
Sarah - say "inconceivable".
James - "income thieve a bowl".


I don't think that means what you think it means.