Do you ever stop talking?

What a contrast with just a few short months ago! We've had numerous people ask Jonathan that question in the last week.

Fireman Joe thought he was pretty loquacious. Our nanny and her friend had the brilliant idea to take Jonathan and Cara on a trip to the fire station. Firefighters are the nicest people. They welcomed us with open arms. Jonathan was soooooo excited to go into the "firetruck house" and get up close and personal with Charlottesville's entire fleet. Fireman Joe gave us a twenty minute tour. We saw pumper trucks and ladder trucks. We saw the chief's car and the little tank they use for rural areas. Jonathan scattered kitty litter and watched the water leak out of the trucks. He loved every second and was determined to appear cool in front of his heroes. Fireman Joe would ask him if he knew what a particular knob or button did, and Jonathan would say "Yeah!" By the end of the visit he was reduced to running around and saying "Dat! Dat!" - he was so excited. I was proud and pleased, however, to see he remembered his manners. He said "thank you" very nicely several times. We have been talking ever since about the visit. Jonathan wears the little fireman hat that Joe gave him all the time and mentions that was "Nice of him! I said thank you!"

The checkout clerk at Harris Teeter also gets a kick out of Jonathan's verbosity. We went last night for our weekly stock-up. Jonathan sat in the car portion of the cart and watched the unloading. I think it's time to make him do the shopping, because, according to him, all the food was for is personal and private use. "Jonathan's eggs! Jonathan's cheese! Jonathan's applesauce! Jonathan's meat!" I was a little worried when she rang up the Starr Hill Amber Ale, but just for a minute. He informed the clerk that was "Daddy's beer!"

Sometimes, you have to know what books Jonathan's been reading in order to understand him. We went to the playground a lot last week once the weather got nice. The bathrooms are undergoing some major renovations and the building was surrounded with debris. Jonathan ignored the slides and swings to stand by the fence. Finally, having gathered his thoughts, he told me that was a "chicken coop! Farmer's wife - clean up!" It took me a while to place it, but he was referring to Small Pig.