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Some of you know that Jonathan's favorite thing in the world is Garbage Trucks, and a few of you know that while he initially said a very cute "gaby cruck," his excitement led to a contracted version of the word, which unfortunately has come out as "gaugh phuck" since about January. He can more or less say basketball ("baksetaball") but garbage truck just doesn't seem to come out right. Plenty of our visitors laugh, but we're so used to it we barely hear it. And it's rare that it draws that much attention in public, though I'm always careful when we drop him off at Sunday school to let the teachers know that he's been talking lately a lot about Garbage Trucks, in case the topic comes up and he appears to have picked up some unfortunate language.
Just a few weeks ago Jonathan had learned to say "Garbage" correctly when referring to the trash that goes in garbage cans. We were so close! But when it came to garbage trucks, I guess the habit was formed, and it was still consistently "gaugh phuck."
My Dad visited a few weeks ago on a Friday night, and while we had an hour together in the car he gave Jonathan an intensive lesson in the pronunciation of Garbage Truck. Jonathan had just started listening to a song that goes "Fire truck, fire truck, I want to ride on a fire truck," so while we circled the airport waiting for my sister's arrival, Dad replaced the words with "Gar-bage-truck, gar-bage-truck..." to emphasize the syllables. It was hysterical to hear Jonathan in the back seat going "tttt...tttt... tuck" trying to say it right. He got pretty good at it, actually!, but in a sentence it still seemed to come out the same.
Along comes Saturday morning, with a 2 year old birthday party to attend. We walk to the park, where (apparently) Jonathan and Joy often see garbage trucks. As we walk up to the birthday girl sitting beside her aunt, I say, "Jonathan, can you tell Savannah 'Happy Birthday'?" Jonathan looks almost right at her, glancing just behind her at the street and says loud and clear, "Gaugh Phuck.... (uncomfortable pause) all gone." The aunt's jaw literally dropped -- she would have been way less surprised if he'd just taken off all his clothes and run off. All I could do was say, "Yes, Jonathan, it looks like the GARBAGE TRUCKS are all gone today."
Of course, once wasn't enough. As we left the party the birthday girl's grandmother was standing nearby when I said, "Jonathan, it's time to go home now." He handled it relatively well, no tantrum, but looked around and responded to my suggestion with "Gaugh Phuck... (pause... pause) i-no-no [I don't know where it is?]" If the two instances hadn't been such clear responses to something said directly to him, it might not have been so noticeable, but it definitely came across, as though my 1 yr old was in the habit of telling me and others to bug off. The poor grandma was just as shocked as the aunt... I again did my best, "Well, Jonathan, I don't know where the GARBAGE TRUCKS are either, they must not be out today."
Of course, once wasn't enough. As we left the party the birthday girl's grandmother was standing nearby when I said, "Jonathan, it's time to go home now." He handled it relatively well, no tantrum, but looked around and responded to my suggestion with "Gaugh Phuck... (pause... pause) i-no-no [I don't know where it is?]" If the two instances hadn't been such clear responses to something said directly to him, it might not have been so noticeable, but it definitely came across, as though my 1 yr old was in the habit of telling me and others to bug off. The poor grandma was just as shocked as the aunt... I again did my best, "Well, Jonathan, I don't know where the GARBAGE TRUCKS are either, they must not be out today."
We'd made it months through his awkward speech without any major drama, and here at a birthday party he just about gave our friends' family a heart attack and convinced the neighborhood he lives with a pair of sailors. Of course by the next day with just a little more practice, he had "Garbage Truck" down crystal clear. oh well! We'll have to wait until he's in his 20's to tell him the story. I did, however, let our friend's mom know at church the next day that her family might have overheard some toddler miss-communications.
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Another favorite from a few weeks ago:
Jonathan requests to sit on the potty: "Make peepee?" so I get him all set up on the potty. He looks down, then looks back up at me, clearly wanting to make this work: "Mommy, turn on the peepee... please?" I assured him that if I could, I would, but that this is one of those things that he's in charge of.
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Another favorite from a few weeks ago:
Jonathan requests to sit on the potty: "Make peepee?" so I get him all set up on the potty. He looks down, then looks back up at me, clearly wanting to make this work: "Mommy, turn on the peepee... please?" I assured him that if I could, I would, but that this is one of those things that he's in charge of.
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