Convos with Magoo

Magoo is experiencing an explosion of language lately. I know the words have been hanging out in his little noggin for quite some time but they’ve finally overflowed and are tumbling out all over the car, house and the great outdoors. The kid almost never stops talking. At times someone else is talking and he seems not to notice at all, just starts in on a long and detailed discourse on the bad guys and stuff and what he’s playing with and where the good guys are until they got squished by the giant bad guy refrigerator.

I love his stories, which are usually prefaced with a coy smile and the declaration, “Okay guys? I’ve got a story to tell you.” Then the most bizarre tales ensue with really no end in sight until you cut him off or he passes out or an ice cream walks by.

And he makes up explanations for things.

“Mom. Did you know that frogs’ middle names are ”˜Toad?’ That’s why sometimes they call frogs a toad. That’s the sing. Okay?”

He even talks when he’s “sleeping.”

Me [lying next to him in bed]: Go to sleep buddy.
Magoo: I AM asleep.
Me: No you’re not.
Magoo: Yes I am.
Me: No you’re not.
Magoo: My eyes are closed and I’m resting. That means I’m asLEEP!

The thing is, although he chatters away with abandon pretty much all the time, he doesn’t have the greatest capacity for listening. A couple of nights ago at dinner, Dan was explaining to Laylee how airplanes work. It was a table-side science lecture and although it was a bit on the dry side for me, Laylee was eating it UP. She soaked up every word and jumped in with her own bits of wisdom. They were using big words and demonstrating how wing flaps worked and Magoo sat staring at them, a look of growing confusion on his face.

Finally he shook his head and blurted, “TOO many words. Way too many words!”

There are way too many words sometimes. I concur.