::applauds:: Again, well done!

And as a parent, I agree with you on many points. We (hubby and I, not the royal we) have made a practice to always always always speak to our children as if they understood every word we said. Never use baby talk. Read to them, interact with them, from day 1. While I'm probably just being the average "oh my wonderful child" mother here, I think that my daughters have remarkable verbal skills for their age, and now that my oldest has begun writing essays in school, she's showing a good grasp of language skills. Only time will tell with the boys.