As anyone who knows me can attest, I’m a talker. According to my family, this is a long-time habit. In fact, I suspect I probably tried to talk while still in the womb, which accounts for the fact that I inhaled amniotic fluid and caused my mom more stress than necessary when I was born.

My habit has led to me raising a long line of loud pets. From the family cat, Ginger, who used to wait for me in my bedroom when I returned from school, crying, “Hiiiii!” to a very expressive doggie who made noises to fit every emotion, to my current cat, who is constantly mewing me his complaints and commentary, I’ve always talked to my pets, and my pets talk back. Why should I be surprised I have a chatty child?

Unlike my parade of pets, however, my boy is gaining language and communication skills daily. Ever since he was born, I’ve been pointing things out to him; explaining and defining the world around him. His vocabulary and understanding, at age 3, are impressive. However, he’s still working on enunciation, meaning that I often have to “translate” his remarks to other adults.

My husband, who cares for our son in the evenings so that I can do my transcription work, came into my office earlier this week and said, “Do you know he knows the word ‘jug’?”

“Yes,” I told him. “We were talking about the milk container while waiting in line at the grocery store, and I told him it’s called a jug. That jugs are containers with handles that carry liquid. Then we talked about what liquids are.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime soon he brings liquids into the conversation.

Last night, he apparently impressed my husband by looking at the opening of a space-based video game and declared it was on the moon. The landscape did, indeed, resemble a lunar landscape. I attributed this to the planet stickers we’ve been using as rewards whenever he does something we’re trying to encourage. I’ve been talking to him about the planets every time I reward him with one.

I’d heard that talking to your child about things that you see in your travels together can help him to build his vocabulary and understanding of the world. It’s a lot of fun finally reaching the time when he’s demonstrating that learning.