Fire Trucks and Crackers From Grandpa

I continue to be amazed each and every day with Nathan's speech development. At age two years and three months, we can carry on complete, almost "adult" conversations with him. He is months ahead of where Tyler was at that age, and I attribute that to the fact that Nathan has an older brother to learn from. And believe me, Tyler is teaching him a lot...

I have many personal favorites. Among them is the word "stuckin." As in "The car is stuckin the mud." He'll say "Help! It's stuckin!" Too cute.

Matt's girlfriend's name, at least to Nathan, is "Dustine." Priceless.

In response to a question like, "Would you like a glass of water?" Nathan replies, "Yah." Definitely a boy with two Yoopers for parents.

He has also learned our current President's name: (a story for an entirely separate blog entry...) "Racko Bama." I love it.

There is one that rises above all the rest for me. It stems from a bit of a speech "impediment" of sorts that he has developed. It's way too early for me to have any kind of concerns about it, and it provides so many laughs for me every day. Indeed, it never gets old for me. I guess it says wonders about my actual mental age.... maybe....

Nathan has a hard time correctly saying any word whose second letter is an "r." Words that begin with "Gr" or "Tr" or "Cr", etc. He begins all of those words with an "Fr" sound, and sometimes only with an "F." The day that he asked "Frandpa" for more "Frackers," I nearly wet my pants.

Even more hilarious, though sometimes a bit embarrassing depending on where we are, is his attempt at talking about his favorite things. Cars and trucks. I'll never forget the first time I heard his interesting attempt at the word "truck."

We were riding in the car, and we pulled up alongside an 18-wheeler.

"Mommy, look! Truck!"

Unfortunately, it didn't all come out exactly like that. Yes, he took off the "tr," and replaced it with "f." After realizing what he meant, remembering his issues with some sounds, I laughed hysterically. I thought it might be a one-time error, and tried to show him how to say it correctly. It didn't work. And there it began.

Nathan loves all kind of trucks, and is never afraid to point out every one that he sees. Big trucks. Green trucks. Daddy's truck. And my personal favorite: Fire trucks. And unfortunately, even in public, his sweet voice knows only one volume - LOUD.

There is something about hearing that word, a word that rarely escapes my lips, coming from the mouth of a two-year-old, that makes me giggle like a teenage boy. I may be thirty years old, but clearly my mind is nowhere near that level. I'm working with him on it. I promise! So far the best I can get from him is "Tr-F$#@."

He'll get it right eventually. Part of me will a bit sad when he finally does though. Until then, I am promised at least three or four hearty laughs each day when Nathan is around. Hopefully I'll have it "fixed" in time for preschool. I've got a little over a year left to enjoy it. I mean, fix it...