Blah, Blah, Blah!

Elyse is starting to realize that if she talks loud enough, somebody might actually pay attention to her around here.
Cast aside to my swing - no thank you!  Direct human contact only, please, in the form of a gentle rocking motion, she says.  Engage me, she demands!
When Elyse cries hard, everybody listens (as they should).  Her usual tiny cries and protests transform into a loud shrill wail that demand immediate attention.  I drop whatever I was doing and cradle her in my arms; the dogs stay out of sight (what dogs?); and even Ariel falls silent and makes herself busy.
Yesterday I managed to soothe Elyse through lunch, who was in a highly verbal state, and read both girls stories and get them down to sleep for their naps simultaneously with one swoop of my magic wand.  Hallelujah!
Ariel has been commanding a lot of attention with her talking too - literally.  "Daddy, go!  Mommy, up!"  She understands what it takes to lead a team of baffled parents to get what she wants.
She has transitioned from a few words, to stringing together simple three-word phrases.  The other day we were coming in through the basement, and I asked her if she'd like me to carry her apple up the stairs so she could walk.  "Nope!" she replied, "still more apple".
A few mornings ago her instructions were clear as day when she said, "mommy sit blue chair", pointing beside her.  Ariel's little mouth has been spewing out a fountain of language these days, and her ears have been working well too.  Dan and I were in the middle of a conversation, and said something about talking, and Ariel piped up, "Blah, blah, blah!"  We laughed, in spite of ourselves, and so did she.