The Daddy Chair

"SILENCE!!!!"

"Bruuuuuthaaa...?"  she says to him in a deep, low, and gravely voice not often encountered in a 6 month old baby girl.

"Yes, Annabelle?" Lukas replies, by now fully accustomed to communicating with her this way.  "I love you Bruuuuuthaaaa!" she lets him know. "You....and the big people.  You know, the ones who feed us."

"You mean Mom and Dad, Annabelle" Lukas corrects her.  "Yes, Bruuuthaaaa" she replies.

And so it goes, back and forth nearly every night.  Silly banter between the two of them which only takes place when Annabelle is hooked up to The Daddy Chair.  Being hooked up, as it were, usually only takes place when I am carrying her around, in one arm.

It was quite an amazing discovery when we learned that our infant girl could actually talk through me, her father, when sitting in my arms like that.  And talk she does, quite a bit.  She tells us tales of arriving here from a place called Babylandia, where babies ride giant cats, never get old, and eat strange fare.

She also tells us of all her wild adventures there, and the fact that she was an heir to the throne of that land before she chose to take a hiatus and claim a family in our realm.

It's all quite bizarre.

She can even be pretty sassy at times when she is contradicted by one of us.  She doesn't like that, and will often shout out "SILENCE!" in a very deep and authoritative voice.

But we all just laugh at that, because we know it's pretty absurd.

I actually think that Annabelle being able to talk to us has helped Lukas transition to having a baby sibling.  It gives him the chance to talk to her about all kinds of things, and for her to thank him for helping her out when she needs his assistance - like when he hands her items that she has dropped and can't pick up herself.  It has helped them bond as brother and sister.

I'm not sure how long Annabelle will communicate with us through The Daddy Chair, probably until she can learn to talk on her own in this new land.

But until then, we will continue to laugh at her silly stories, soak in her absurd tales of adventure, and teach her how things work in our land - which in many ways is much different than it is in Babylandia.

And all the while I'll be carrying her around, propped up in one arm facing out.  A perfect position for conversation.