We’re all speaking an alien language at my home.

“Wha dis?”

“Is dat?”

“Nanana.”

The babies are starting to talk.  A lot.  And some of it is words!  Well, words that I can understand.  Kind of.  Well, not really.  But I’m trying.

At suppertime today, I asked one of the twins if she wanted more food. 

“Nana,” she answered with a large smile.

“You want a banana?”

“Nana.”

So I got her a banana, which made her squeal and clap her chubby little hands.  And then she happily ate her banana. 

At 14.5 months old, the twins are right on schedule with their speech development.  But, given that my first-born was hyper-verbal, they seem behind.  I keep telling myself that it isn’t really fair to compare kids, but it is really hard not to compare them when there are two of them hitting the same milestones at approximately the same age.

Both are walking now.  Both have about a dozen words that they use regularly with a few that are used correctly at surprising times – like this afternoon when my older daughter asked where my husband was and I said, “Outside.”

My daughter said, “What?”

And one of the babies shouted, “Ouuutsieeee!”

It is now that I realize that there will come a time very soon that all four of my kids will be asking me things simultaneously using real words instead of two talking and two crying. 

It is sort of unfair that they have only one name for me, “Mom!” and it is a billion times easier to say than it is for me to discern which child is asking for something, call said child by the correct name and remember what they were asking for, isn’t it?

While babies learning how to talk is one of my most favorite stages, the next one lurking around the corner is not: babies using the word “Mine!” for everything they see and want. 

That book?  Mine!

That toy?  Mine!

That blanket?  Mine!

That cup of steaming hot coffee?  Mine!

The twins are already trying tug-of-war on toys and, oddly, washcloths in the bathtub.  It is only a matter of time when their disgruntled cries are replaced with bellowed, “Mine!” and “No, Mine!”

One of the twins is a good deal bossier than her sister, so I anticipate many a frustrated conversation with Miss Bossy about not being in charge all of the time and with Miss Bossed-Around to help her assert herself when she can.  It will be an interesting thing to negotiate, I think.  I hope.

Are there any of you out there with multiples who can give me some pointers about dealing with barely-verbal and newly-verbal twins?  And did you ever get tired of people asking if they have their own secret twin language?  ‘Cuz I am and these wee ones have barely started talking…