My 2yr 7mos #toddler has become a Macaw, repeating EVERYTHING! #tuesdaytoddlertales

Everyone with older kids tells you there will be a sudden, subtle launguage explosion somewhere between two and three years old.

It sneaks up on you. It did with Emily. One day she was pointing and naming objects and the next, she was stringing together three- and four-word sentences.

We've noticed that it's beginning with Nolan at 2 years 7 months old.

Not only is he using short phrases like "fruit snack, please" and "I blow my nose", he's repeating everything we say and eventually using it in correct context later.

He's our own little macaw!

His favorite phrases to repeat daily include:

"What was that?" When he hears a loud noise or when one of us gasps.

"Pee pee in the potty" Anytime he hears the toilet flush, sees a bathroom, or sees one of us go into the bathroom. It might possibly be time to begin the initial stages of potty-training.

"I hold a hand" Any time we go outside or get out of the car. It's his way of assuring you he will hold your hand to avoid sitting in a shopping cart or his stroller.

"I sit, I eat" When it's meal time. He especially loves crawling up into his highchair himself.

"I blow my nose" When he has a runny nose, which has been daily for about a month now. He hates boogies and wants you to wipe them immediately.

"No night-night" Ah, this is a favorite. While he still sleeps through the night and takes a two to three hour nap every day, he protests when he notices that we are winding down and heading upstairs.

"I clean my hands" My main man hates having dirty hands. He dislikes sandboxes most of the time and wants his hands washed after every meal. I'm good with this.

"I slip" Because of a recent slip off a climbing feature at the park (he was dangling, he didn't actually hit the ground), he uses this any time he falls now.

"Is that for me?" Nolan loves to get his own snacks from our snack cabinet. I keep it locked with a baby lock; however, at times I forget and I hear the squeak of the cabinet door and the rustling of the popcorn bags, fruit snack bags, and granola bar wrappers just before he comes running towards where ever Emily is to hand her one of what he has chosen. It's quite adorable that he always grabs two and gives one to her. The first time he did this, she asked him "Is that for me?" and we think that's where he got this phrase from. He says it as he's giving her the snack of the hour. Then he usually repeats it, looking up at me, as he hands me his snack for me to open. I die from the cuteness of it all. :)

"It's a bubble party" Any time I blow bubbles for him. He absolutely loves them, what kid doesn't?!? He gets all riled up, running around the yard, swatting, slapping, and chopping the bubbles.

"Help, it's stuck" He says often, in varying situations. Some times a little car or train IS actually stuck and he needs help removing it. Other times, it's because he can't get a puzzle piece in correctly, can't get a toy down off a shelf, or can't get a pair of my or David's shoes off that he's been wearing around the house for the past hour.

"Uh oh, it's out of batteries" and "Uh oh, it's broken" This relates to any electronic toy that no longer works either because he's turned the volume down so low that he thinks it's broken or because it's actually out of batteries. He told me his toe was broken yesterday but he was referring to a small chip in his toenail.

"Cut the piggies" This refers to clipping his toenails. He typically hates me doing this and will run off and whine, crying out "no no no no cut the piggies". I've learned that if I clip Emily's toenails first, he will insist he's next and will climb over her and shove her out of the way to get his toenails cut right that second.

There are so many more, these are just a highlight of what we hear constantly.

It's really amazing to watch him mature right before our eyes!