People will joke

 People will joke, “Just wait until they start talking, they never stop.”

But that joke lands differently when you’ve spent months, maybe years, waiting to hear your child say anything at all.
When every sound felt like progress.
When every attempt made your heart squeeze.
When a single new word could bring you to tears.

When you’ve walked through speech delays, you don’t wish the chatter away.
You don’t get annoyed by the endless questions.
You don’t take their little voice for granted.

You soak it in.
Every word. Every babble. Every triumph.

Because their voice isn’t noise.
It’s a gift you prayed for.
And it will always hit different when you remember the silence before it.