Max was a late talker.  He didn't have very many words until he was about 2 1/2.  I wasn't entirely worried.  For starters, he's a boy.  And he's the second child.  And his sister talks enough for both of them.  I knew he would eventually come around.

Now, at 3 1/2?  This kid?  NEVER SHUTS UP!!

And I mean NEVER.

There are days when I wonder if my ears will spontaneously bleed.

This was our conversation this morning - and by conversation, I mean Max talking incessantly while I insert a few "really", "yep", and "ah, huh"s.  Don't knock me - you learn to zone out the buzz when it's all you hear all day long.

Mommy, someday when we die someone else is going to live in our house.  [Not sure why, but both kids have been obsessed w/death lately?!]

You know, like when we're old - infinity and beyond - we'll all be dead.

Yeah, I think my friend Nate is going to live here.  His name starts with a N.  My name starts with M. [Names may have been changed to protect the innocent - and weird]

He's after me, so he's going to live here.

I don't want him to touch my stuff though. 

Mommy, I don't want to get old.

You're almost 37.

[That's when I ended the conversation.  I just turned 36 two weeks ago and the kid already has me aging.  Yes, I am proud of his counting skills, but WTF dude.]

We recently dropped Max down from 5 days of preschool/daycare to just 3.  I am still trying to work from home for a couple of hours on those days.

I've tried to let him watch a little TV to buy me work time.  Dora and Scooby Doo can pretty good babysitters.  Unfortunately, he insists on giving me play-by-play action while he's watching.

Anyone know where I can find a good pair of ear plugs?