"Nice" -- Our Toddler Critic

The more and more he talks, the more he cracks us up.

Jonathan's latest favorite word is "nice," pronounced "niiiiiiice," which comes across with the same tone as "sweeeeeet" from the 90's. I realized a bit ago that he would likely pick up the entirely wrong meaning for the word. I had started saying, "oooh, isn't that nice?" when trying to spray saline in his stuffy nose as he thrashed his head about to dodge me, and when attempting to slather the wiggly toddler with Aquaphor before putting on his pj's. It was an attempt to disguise the activity perceived as so unpleasant, as something actually, well, "nice." He then seemed to believe "nice" was the word for Aquaphor, because he'd say "nice" each time I made my attempt to save this wiggly baby's skin from the dry winter air.
[okay, fine, it's not that dry in Houston, but it's kinda drier in the winter... and his skin gets dry]

So I was shocked a week or two ago to hear him in the park. He'd been carrying a little stick along on our way to the park, when he found a much bigger one at his feet just before we arrived at the playground. Full of enthusiasm, he exclaimed, "ooooooh! NICE stick!"

Since then, we've been amused to see all the things labeled as nice.

"Jonathan, look at what Daddy made. Isn't Daddy a good cook?" "niiiiice"

Today as I kissed him goodbye on my way to clinic, he reached up to my necklace. "Nice neck[lace]" -- Thanks, Jonathan, you're looking cute today yourself.

Garbage truck videos (yup, they're the toddler rage on You Tube)
... lots of "gabby cruck, gabby cruck, ooooh! niiiice... gabby cruck"

Stray dogs, pretty flowers, a fast bug, and a hug... in my toddler's eyes, they rank "niiiiice"

Not that he holds still for the saline spray or the Aquaphor, but at least he tells me it's "nice."