he speaks...

Gagey walked at nine months.
He sat early, stood early, walked early - climbed, jumped ran...
But i said that he was the strong silent type because speaking was not his thing.
Slowly - he added words to his vocabulary - amidst long stretches of silence - and now he talks like any other three year old.
Ephraim is another kind of chicken entirely.
He's almost one, and even though he has mad crawling skills - he has yet to take more than 2 consecutive steps unassisted. He pushes stools around, and climbs like a little monkey (he climbs to the top of our staircase and then goes as straight as a board and giggles as he "thump thump thumps" down the stairs backwards - to the delight of all of his brothers and sisters who shout 'Again!! Again!!' - but this little monkey can also... speak.
At first we thought it was a fluke - he would mimic sounds so well - and his jibber jabber had so many familiar syllables...
But now, i'm certain that i have heard responses that are meant for my ears - and that my tiny boy... has begun to figure out verbal communication.
My firstborn was talking clearly at this age - naming objects with a sturdy pointed finger... and i have longed to have another communicator like her - but they have all been so different. i wonder if maybe this little guy - who i'm sure i heard say, "brother" the other day... will be something like his big sister?