Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Adios Amigos! And other cute things my kids say

Since JT is 4.5 years old, his speech is USUALLY pretty clear and understandable. At least to us.  But he still has a few words that he just can't seem to say right.  Like "mucis" instead of music, and the proverbial "pasghetti" instead of spaghetti.  I only make a minor effort to correct him, because it's just too darned cute, and I'll miss those words when they're gone. Now however, he says phrases or sayings that make us chuckle.  For instance, a couple of months ago at preschool they used "101 Dalmations" as a way to teach numbers.  So now he points out the number 100 if he sees it, and wants to count to 100 together.  And he also started telling us he has "100 energy".  He doesn't know what it really means, but I still don't like the sound of it!  So today when I went to pick him up at preschool, I couldn't go in because LW has been getting up before the crack of dawn and fell asleep on the way there (again!).  They sent him out the emergency door (after disarming the alarm!!), right in front of where I parked.  Normally when you go in to pick them up, they have a white board outside his class with a little description of what they did that day.  Of course I didn't get to see that today so I had to get all my information from him. A 4 year old...enough said!  Before we even got in the car, he said "hey, there's AJ!  Adios Amigos!".  To which AJ's mom and I both chuckled.  I assumed he got this from Dora the Explorer, though thought it was an odd time for him to start using the phrase.  Well after we were in the car and started leaving, he had his window open, and started yelling it to everyone he saw!  After I shushed the heck out of him so he wouldn't wake up LW, it dawned on me.  Today is Cinqo De Mayo so they must have done something about that in school.  When I asked JT, sure enough they had indeed had a Cinqo De Mayo snack and taught them Adios Amigos.  How about that...he really does learn while he's there!  Now I just need to figure out what they had for snack.  Despite the fact that as usual, snack was his favorite part of the day (and apparently "delicioso", pronounced as well as he pronounces spaghetti), he couldn't remember what they had.  The description I've gotten from him, in bits and pieces, is it was long and orange, not cheese or sweet, and the teachers got it from the refrigerator by the door they go out for recess.  Okey Dokey!  Any ideas?

Then there is LW.  He is going through another language explosion. He doesn't just come up with new words everyday (my favorites being Chocweet for Chocolate, though it's often used to describe other brown food items, and "HUG!") he's also using/repeating phrases ("Hey? Where'd it go?" for one).  The other day we were chatting with a neighbor as he walked by.  S is a friendly guy and will talk your ear off.  Well he's no match for our chatty little boys, who run to him as soon as they see him.  You can tell he doesn't understand LW, but he plays along.  After the conversation was finished and we were saying goodbye, LW chimed in with "haveaniceday"!  It ran all together like that, but was clear as day otherwise. Not something I expected to hear from my not-so-little-anymore boy.

Listening to their language development is one of my favorite parts of motherhood.  Hearing the little voice repeat something in context though they probably don't understand, or later realizing they DO understand what they are saying, is just amazing.  Their little minds absorb so much information in a short time.  But it's one of those bittersweet moments as well, because as I watch them develop in leaps and bounds, I realize this is one of those things I'm really going to miss when my boys are all grown up.

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