Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Sweet Language... So Fleeting!

Olivia is at the stage which can't (or won't) pronounce certain sounds. When we attempt to help her, this is how it goes:

Olivia: "tan I hab a cha-ko" (translate: can I have a cracker)

Zachary: "Olivia, say "Cra - Cra - Cra-cker"

Olivia: "Cra - Cra... CHA-KO!"

It has been this way with each of my children at the age of two-years plus, and so the saga continues.
We all enjoy a hearty laugh, and it's another good year or three before the word is pronounced correctly, since it is now a perfect way to commandeer the comfortable position of center stage.
(which can be tricky when you fall fourth in the birth order!)

Still we chip away at teaching correct pronunciation.
Daddy Bug feels it's important to help the little guys get it right when they are such sponges for learning. Cuteness isn't a reason to let these things slide;-)
Stillll.....
Just the other day Zachary turned to me after one of these frequent scenarios, and says to me
"It's SO CUTE when she talks like that! I like it!"

I agree to the tenth power.
The good news for us, is that human nature combined with vanity has a strong pull towards making it last... as long as a it can!
Olivia's smart that way:-)
Besides, EVERYONE would rather eat "Oat-molies" for breakfast than plain old oatmeal, so maybe she is teaching US a thing or two!

Language is a constant source of laughter in our home.
We have a first-born who catalogues away words for future use, and then uses them in astonishingly accurate context, and has done that ever since he outgrew the "Cra - Cra - CHA-ko" stage. Just tonight he asks me "Mom? What is a 'heart's desire'?"

Then there's my number two who is as famous as his mom and grampa for mixing metaphors,
and butchering words in the most hilarious way.
Just take the "Holy mammoths" for example, or today he asked his dad for "a sip of your Doctor Pepsi".
He really keeps us rolling!

So the spoken word is really neat. And it apparently it has other uses than merely communicating an idea or thought - in fact, the way words get used around here, an idea is likely to be slain unintentionally (at least by me or Clay).
Laughter has great value.
Proverbs says that it can even bring healing to the bones...
I believe it, and on any day, I'd rather have good healthy bones, and a stitch in my side from laughing, than hear a word pronounced correctly and in proper context!

It's great fun!

It's the Sweet Language.

...and it really is fleeting.

7 comments:

Andi said...

They are so precious! Lily (6) calls sneezes "bless-yous", as in "Mommy! I bless-you'd real big!"
Andi

Momma Bug said...

I love it!

Photo Momma said...

I LOVE this stage of speech! It is so much fun :) My husband was trying to get Caleb to say train the other day. He will only say "choo-choo." He told him "No, say the word train!" And Caleb replied, "WORD choo-choo!"

Lady Jess said...

So cute. I love that stage. When my brother was younger he would say "psgetti" and "hangabur". I absolutely love it!

Ashley said...

Ethan used to say "hi-coties" instead of coyotes. That stage is SO cute!
Oh, and Joe used to say "yong yong time ago".

Alterton Scottish Terriers said...

Was just thinking similar things today. They are so eager to share their thoughts. It's precious when little ones you've loved so long can finally converse, a bit at least. Thanks for sharing!

Momma Bug said...

Yes I can't get enough!
It's worth blogging just to journal some of the fun things they say that I don't otherwise get around to recording:-)

Ashley,
MOLLY used to say Hi-coties too!
I think of it every time coyote comes up in conversation!