Wellfleet

I'm sure Marjorie wants this too - no doubt about that. When I was 17, I knew exactly what my life was going to be like too. I'm sure she's sure everything will work out wonderfully. I'm sure she thinks she knows exactly what she's doing. And maybe she is. But she's 17, Josiah's 18. They don't know what they don't know yet, and the odds are overwhelmingly against them. Sure, occasionally it works out for a couple who marry that young, but not usually. And it works even less often when teen couples start having children right away.

LOL, this is so true. However JoanArc is 100% right. Josh is a name on a piece of paper here - nothing more. He puts on a suit, shows for the annual meeting and collects a paycheck. That's it. And he has to rake in all the $$ he can right now, because in his case, the red light is blinking. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether it ends, as the saying goes, with a bang or a whimper.

Jellybeans, I feel so badly for you in all this. I think you're right overall - people don't know what to say to grieving parents. In fear of saying the wrong thing, in fear of hurting someone by bringing up painful memories, they choose to say nothing at all. Maybe you've already done this, but if not, I'd suggest that you let your friends know that you want to talk about your daughter. That you need to share your memories and stories, and want to hear others' as well. I've never been married and don't have kids, so I remained closer to my parents. I didn't have the distraction of my own family to separate me and my parents all that much. When my parents passed away in the late 90s, within 16 months of each other, it was difficult for me. But I've never stopped bringing up memories and stories aloud with sibs, other family members, even some of my parents' friends. They say people are not really dead as long as they live on in our hearts, and I absolutely believe this. I know continuing to speak about my parents with people who knew them, and even at times with people who didn't has helped me immensely. So anyway you have to, keep sharing your memories. And God bless...

This used to stump me too - big time. Then it hit me one day. Maybe the Leg Humpers are just not all that bright. Like the Duggars themselves, they don't question much. They look at only the surface, or the end-result - not how it was achieved. They don't see the big picture, and they don't really worry all that much about the future either.

Guess I'm glad we have neither of them in my neck of the woods...

I seem to remember from a college child development course that there are definitely timelines involved in language acquisition. In particular languages - probably many of them actually - certain sounds must be "learned" by such-and-such an age or it's just never happens. This must one of those situations. I think it also probably accounts for Henry Higgins-type experts being able to distinguish native speakers from those who learned a language later.

I would've reacted exactly as you did, Jenniferbug. Glad all was well in the end - and all good thoughts and wishes for Baby Two. July babies are awesome...

You're not alone, Neet. There are a few of us here without kids or childbirth experience. But I have to say I enjoy hearing the stories - horror and otherwise - from all the moms here. I have learned a ton, and like Lincoln, think it's critical to hear viewpoints from all sides. I've often thought X about something, just to have my opinion altered 180 degrees by the comment of another poster, who knows a lot more than I do about a given issue.

Using this kind of logic, shouldn't Me-chelle be much devoted to her now-deceased parents and her remaining sibs? After all, they were part of her life long before Boob. Once again, the Duggars - and probably Gothard himself - want a nice neat simple little rule to remember. Nope, it doesn't work that way, kids. Life is complicated - and messy. And it's hard work. At different times it will be your marriage/relationship, or your kids, or your parents, or your sibs, or your friends, maybe even your work at times - that will need to be top priority. You may even have to double-up at times - so start eating your Wheaties.

I would tend to agree - this is a Duggar deal. The little ones in this family were not spoken to - for the most part - by their adult parents during critical phases of language development. What they heard was their sister-moms and other sibs, and probably not a lot of that. Josie's speech is farther along than Jordyn's because Me-chelle did actually yammer at Josie when she was very young, or at least more than she did with her other kids. And hardly any one spoke to Jordyn at all - hence she's very quiet in general.

I'm sure it's not easy to do. And glad it's difficult to duplicate, because as far as listening to it goes, it's quite unpleasant. Any more than a 2-3 minute "The Wedding March" would be intolerable, at least IMO. I can't imagine there are lines outside the box office for tickets to "An Evening of Loud Banging..."

Oh, that's easy. Ben is sure because he's 19. Nearly all teens/20-somethings have everything figured out. And they are, in addition, baffled as to why their parents and elders are having such a tough time. I've said it before, so forgive the repetition but, they just don't know what they don't know yet. It's called Life, and a vast majority of them really haven't experienced much of it yet. Sadly, the more close-minded they are, the less they will gain over time - IMO. This type of individual will be "19 and holding" for the rest of his/her life.

IMO, little things have to be turned into big sagas. It's all these people have. Otherwise, there's nothing big or interesting going on for them.

Look at that face, will you? This is one cute baby. Here's wishing all good and wonderful things for this little face - most especially the gift of tolerance and understanding.

Awwww... Hey, it's my experience that those newborns who don't start out looking like the Gerber baby almost always ending up being really good-looking later in life. And vice versa.

My guess is because, until now, she's always been perfect. She's not accustomed to being wrong - about anything. She's certainly not used to hearing about being wrong. To being corrected, to having to go back and fix things, or having to re-assess something that didn't work and come up with a new strategy. But she does now - and she's finding it difficult. Things other kids get used to at a much-earlier age, Jill is facing for the first time now, at 23. And it just happens that the thing she got wrong was the one thing she was born and raised to do, which has to make it even more difficult.

Yes - "really" does seem quite odd to say in this instance. I have the distinct impression that a fair amount of last night's scenes were re-enactments. And not verbatim re-enactments either.

Anna's "Before you know it your little one will be in kindergarten" remark had me thinking that Josh, Anna & family are headed back to Arkansas within a year or so maybe, and the three mothers, Anna, Jill and Jessa [maybe even Marjorie by then] are planning to homeschool cooperatively. It certainly would make sense, although of course I'd rather see the kids go to a Christian school with kids to whom they are strangers, not relatives.

Yes, I definitely picked up a defensive vibe as well. It seemed to me that a lot of points brought up here - and other places as well, I'm sure - were "dealt with" in this episode. Very definitely explained or defended. I think Jill was not nearly as reasonable and agreeable going through it as she was portrayed in this episode. I got an overall "damage control" feeling about this. Maybe that's why there was so much Me-chelle? Yet again...

No, no, no... Derick had his Elmer Fudd hat on. Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit... It was the fundie version of a Warner Bros cartoon. :>)

Awww, damn it. Typing through tears, and not for the first time since we've been hearing about Maisie. If this keeps up, I'm going to blow my Stone Cold Bitch cover. You are indeed home, wanderwoman. It must feel like Heaven. And what wonderful friends you have - getting everything ready for you. God bless you and your little pink pudder [our family's word for baby - rhymes with "gooder"].

I took the turkey baster to be a direct reference from Three Men and a Baby. Tom Selleck, Ted Danson et al used a turkey baster filled with warm soapy water from the sink the first time they had to clean and diaper the new little baby girl that had been left on their doorstep. Because they were supposedly so inept and nervous about babies. Who knows what the Duggars meant it for though?

It is hard to figure out exactly what's wrong, but there is something. Just speaking from a teacher's perspective, and though I'd never be qualified to make any kind of diagnosis, I'd still have a lot of questions. Can she say the alphabet? Or just sing it? Can she count? Can she identify the sound each letter makes? Group items by size, color or shape? Can she hold a pencil? Write her name? Cut with scissors? Ride a trike? Bounce a ball? Draw a picture of herself? Can she connect dots? Put a puzzle together? Can she skip? Follow simple directions? Use descriptive words? Recite short pieces [poems, rhymes etc]? Etc etc...

No, come to think of it. I don't think I've ever heard Boob say the word sex or vaginal etc. Lest you think he's a complete prude however - he and Me-chelle have demonstrated coitus - as Sheldon Cooper would say - doggy-style as a matter of fact - on a miniature golf course for the benefit of Jessa and Ben.

Holy moly! This just reinforces my contention that Derick should lose that patchy "beard" of his ASAP. This look is much nicer. He's still not George Clooney but then, who is? He should think about gaining a little weight too. Not a lot, just a little muscle. He's such a beanpole now...