Chatter (Corie) and Chitter (Katie)
A few days back a Blind Pig reader asked why we call the girls Chatter and Chitter.
Although we’ve called them by various nicknames over the years, it was actually my niece April who started calling them Chatter and Chitter. If you’ve ever been around the girls you understand how well the names fit. They’ve rarely stopped talking since they first learned how to speak.
The girls were born almost four weeks early, but they were healthy. As most mothers I was thrilled with each milestone they made–from being able to hold their own bottle to finally being able to sit up it was all so exciting.
We had a great pediatrician who was always willing to answer my many questions at each well-check visit. Almost from the beginning he was sort of concerned about their motor skills. They were slow at crawling and very slow at walking. Chatter was 14 months old before she walked and Chitter was closer to 16 months. But the doctor wasn’t overly concerned, because while the girls weren’t showing a lot of athletic ability they were pretty much talking in sentences by the time most kids start speaking.
Of course their motor skills caught up to where they should be eventually and by that point they were ready for full fledged conversations with anyone who would listen 🙂
I was a backward little girl that hardly ever spoke to my family, much less anyone I didn’t know. Chatter and Chitter have literally never met a stranger. When they were just tiny girls riding in the buggy they spoke to every person we met in the aisle.
Today they still speak to everyone and seem to end up with a new friend every time they go to town.
April was the girls’ main playmate when they were little. She is almost exactly to the day one year younger than them. In other words she got to hear a lot of talking over the years.
We still tease April about her naming the girls Chatter and Chitter. On the day she declared that was their new names she said she guessed she’d call herself cheddar since that was the closest thing she could think of to go with Chatter and Chitter 🙂
I’ll be sure to tell you about some of their other nicknames someday soon.
Last night’s video: Old Fashioned Scuppernong Grape Hull Pie in Appalachia.
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Your girls are amazing, smart and beautiful, like their mom and their granny before them. My daughter was a talker and a walker from the age of six months. She never crawled, she just stood up and walked, well, ran mostly. Her poor shins bore the brunt of all her excursions with constant bruises and scrapes. I told my family that, to strangers, she looked like an abused child with all the marks on her sweet chubby legs. Across the aisles in the grocery store, one could hear her talking, loudly, to everyone in sight. So I truly know how blessed you and your girls are. Truly blessed.
I love the girls nicknames and enjoyed reading the backstory of how they got them. My sisters and I and my late brother inherited our daddy’s blessing/curse of never meeting a stranger and yep we talk a lot too. Now, I have a five year old granddaughter and a three year old grandson that have also inherited our “talking” traits.
Thanks for clarifying Tipper. I thought it might have to do with their natural loquaciousness (!)
My younger daughter sounds similar. She didn’t learn to walk until a year & a half old. But she could converse like an adult by 2 1/2. My older daughter did learn to walk early & she talked early, too. By 2 1/2 she could carry on a conversation with anyone (& would). They both had whole, imaginary worlds by 3. The older one was always my “friend” popping by for a visit with her kids (a cabbage patch doll). The younger one was a horse named Blueberry Sparkle & could whinny like a real horse. They kept us in stitches. the talking has never stopped. They can visit with anyone, young, old, & older. Although, my younger daughter is not too fond of little kids. We say it is because she likes being the baby in the family! My hubby has always called the older daughter, Punky (short for pumpkin, I guess), but somehow no nicknames for the younger. Although, we do tease her & call her ‘deer slayer’ for her 2 nice bucks she has gotten.
Wonderful people whatever their names but I do love the Chitter and Chatter names. It’s amazing how fast children grow up!
Those girls are a real blessing for sure. I think the nicknames fit them perfectly. So sweet that your niece came up with what to call them.
I have followed them since they were children. I have been so amazed how they could just learn anything they set their mind to. I also really admire those who carve out a livelihood from skills or determination.
When I was quite a bit younger, I tried to make a living other than working for somebody. When they were popular, I made western shirts and jean purses. Unfortunately, all it seemed to do was make me tire of sewing for many years. I had to go a more traditional route but was never my first choice.
They are so gifted with singing, playing instruments, traditional dancing, making soaps, Etsy with beautiful jewelry. Maybe the good Lord had to give them a little bit of a slow start, because he knew once they got started there was no stopping them. It was a long time before I could tell them apart, and now they look so distinctly different it makes me wonder how I could not see their uniquely different personalities and features. The world is a better place because of chitter and Chatter, and I am sure Chedder. 🙂
Love the story Tipper and thank you for sharing. I still say that they were named backwards. While Corie is certainly no wall-flower and has a wonderful quirky personality of her own, if there has ever been any one that should have been named Chatter, it is Katie Ann Pressley 🙂
Of course I’m basing that off of just videos that I see them in. Perhaps if I met them in person I would think differently.
It took me so long to figure out who was Chatter and who was Chitter:) I think April got it right:) What I love about them is their display of love for their family. That’s how I was brought up. When I was a baby because my older brother called me Sister rather than my given name, seems like others did so too. I grew up with cousins in our little town and when I was still a little girl one of my other first cousins moved to our town too. When she first met me she thought I was her sister. She was an only child. I had distant cousins that were twins and everyone called them sister so if I was with them playing and someone said Sister, I thought they were talking to me. It was sort of comical.
Your scuppernog pie looked delicious! Mother and Daddy moved back to NE MS when they retired and they planted a Muscodine Vine. They told me the grapes were an old timey variety. I remember them being stretched across what looked like a clothes lines and they were FULL of grapes. Seems like I remember them as being red in color. I do know they were delicious.
Well April sure picked the perfect Nick names for these two ladies! They do love to talk and so do i, i guess that’s why we are such good friends today and for that I am very grateful. Even though when I was young & in school I was VERY SHY, but now everyone says I’m making up for lost time lol. Thanks for sharing the history of their nick names!
Nicknames in families are verbal hugs of love.
Such precious memories ❤️
I like the names Chitter and Chatter, I think they are catchy. My daughter’s name was April even though she was born in January. Both my wife and me were backwards as you say. I don’t know how we managed to hook up with both of us being so shy. She would not even eat in front of me on the first night we dated, hamburgers at Burger King. She kept telling me something was wrong with her hamburger but wouldn’t let me take it back. Early on in high school I learned there were two advantages to sitting on the back row in the class , one you didn’t get called on very much by the teacher, and the best one, you could check out all of the girls in class without being noticed! Seems to me, Chitter and Chatter have overcome any problems they may have had early in their lives. Any parents would be proud to have them for their daughters.
In the hills, if you can’t take a lot of ribbing and teasing, life’s about to get really difficult for ya. I think it makes for a tough shell. I got my Boston ferns this year per usual and got the biggest dang fern you ever saw aptly called the Macho Fern. It’s a real show stopper. So when Murrman asked what is was I said macho and from then on it’s been rough ever since cause he’s singing “Macho Macho Marge” like the horrible song and at first I was upset. But now I see he likes seeing my feathers out so I have to laugh and take it on the chin… Mara walked one day before she turned 1 year. Carly has to go walking at 8 months and she got into all sorts of trouble (even a screw driver in a outlet at a friend’s who’s outlets were not baby proofed.) The lights flickered and Murr flew to find her with a half melted screw driver… he about lost his mind with fright! I’m thinking not walking is fine until you can reason a bit…I had a pediatrician tell me girls talk earlier than boys… fancy that one, fellas…. I’d have never guessed. Lol
The pie looks great! Always enjoy your videos. You can plant seeds but I have read that they may not produce fruit. It takes a few weeks for them to come up and sprout leaves. I have one that I planted a year ago. Hoping it will do something. It is small but still living. I planted a bought vine next to it.
I envu anyone that can put themselves forward like that. I don’t ever remember being comfortable speaking up or in front of people.
I was wondering how they got those nicknames. It’s funny how April gave herself a nickname too, Cheddar. I guess since they were close playmates y’all could have called them The Three C’s, kind of like the Three Musketeers, but girl versions….hahaha.
Now we just need to know how you came up with the blog name Blind Pig and the Acorn. I’d like to read that story too.
Yep, one of the great mysteries of life how children physically resemble their parents, even strongly, yet have very different personalities. Not only do we not solve it, it gets more mysterious as time goes by. Physically family resemblance endures across multiple generations; that’s genetics. But personality is not genetic, its spiritual. I had never thought about it in quite this way before. I’ll have to think on it.
I admire the outgoing never-met-a-stranger folks and stand in awe of them. That personality has served Chitter and Chatter well in their music. And it has not escaped me Tipper that you are typically in the background and silent. Believe me, I resemble that. I am most definitely not outgoing. In a crowd I’m most likely to be found on the edges. I have wondered about that fella in Acts that fell out the window. Was he an edge-of-crowd sort?
Seems like April might just have a talent of seeing into the heart of things. Was she the one that christened the three of them the Three Indian Princesses? That reminds me of Adam naming everything except himself. He even named Eve. Just think what a puzzle all that naming was.
Your daughters have always been someone I would like to know. Their personalities are great and they are always so pleasant. As parents you did a great job raising them and it shows!
You have been so Blessed with these two…their skills are awesome in so many ways. String and Pluck, cause that is what they do and do in so well. Enjoyed watching your guys peel the Grapes. Made Jelly with Scups a few years ago and even tried to make preserves, although those seeds are such a pest. Have a Blessed one.
Thanks for this post. I had wondered myself. Y’all are such a sweet family. I enjoy getting to know y’all through these vlogs snd video. God continue to bless you.
Chitter and Chatter always seemed to fit them perfectly because they sure did a lot of it. They were sweet, beautiful girls and very active once they got going. It is interesting how out going they are while you and the Deer Hunter are more reserved.
I must add that they are both amazing young women and very talented!
And here all this time I thought The Deer Hunter had named them those cute nicknames. Well April certainly got them right. They truly are a blessing.