I can relate! Onyx has begun talking to herself all the time now. She's nearly 13 and never used to do that until the last couple of months. She has this "straw" -- it's the heavy-duty, ribbed kind that you'd get off a child's cup at a fast food place whenever they have those special "cups" going on .. She went nuts over it and carries it around all the time and whenever she sets it down, she starts talking: "Now you stay right there until I pick you up again. Don't even think about moving. Meowmie might throw the straw to another room so I have to go hunting for it, but don't you even think about it. Stay right there!" ... all day long ...