My mother is a talented lady. Included within her repertoire is an enviable ability to spell. Much to her chagrin, her children were not taught phonics in school and are both terrible spellers. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm not terrible (and I doubt my brother is either) - I am just creative. I make up my own versions of words and I use dictionary.com a LOT (hello - repertoire?! chagrin?).
All this being said, I am going to attempt to combine phonetic spelling skills that I don't actually have with creative spelling skills I actually do have in order to share with you some of Harrison's more interesting uses of the English language. I hope this is a list that keeps growing!
Kewl (Cool): This one comes from me. Whenever I hear HD say "cool" I hear a little reflection (hear a reflection? Wha???) of myself and I literally see the word spelled in the air as "K-E-W-L!" So apparently when I say "cool" I do so in a way that is really drawn out and drawlly (you know, said with a drawl). I like this one because he actually seems to add syllables to the word every time he says it which shows just how "keeeewwwwl" the item/event/situation is.
Togedder/Beder (Together/Better): Really this is just a "D" sound in place of a "T" or "TH" sound, but I like these words because they make me think of Jack Johnson ("It's always beder when we're togedder!") and that alone is reason to smile. Also, one of our babysitters is named Heather, so as you can imagine, Harrison calls her Header. :)
Apple Coffee (Hot Apple Cider): Last fall, when we got our Keurig, I bought Ben some Hot Apple Cider KCups. Turns out, it is his son who loves them! Not sure how it happened or if it was actually HD or Grandma Deb (Ben's mom) who came up with the term, but Harrison now likes to enjoy some lovely Apple Coffee (mixed with water or ice cubes to cool it off & water it down a bit) in one of his sippy cups, usually on the weekend (or whenever Grandma visits!). Apparently he wanted to be like his mama who has to have real coffee every day just to keep up with him! But hey - if it makes him content without actually asking to have my coffee, I'll take it!
Honkey Donkey (Burro): My dad has two burros at his farm that stay with his sheep and Harrison is quite fond of checking on them when we visit. Somehow, last summer, he came up with the name Honkey Donkies for them. At first I thought it was cute just for the rhyme factor, but if you think about it, this is quite accurate because they essentially are donkeys and they do honk (bray, whatever)!
Campfire (Kindle Fire): This one cracks me up big time. We just got a Kindle Fire a couple months ago and already Harrison has learned that it is a lot of fun, especially when it involves playing Angry Birds. But apparently "Kindle Fire" is a bit too much for him to say because two or three (or six) times a day I hear, "Mama, I play with Campfire? I play Angry Birds on the Campfire? Mama! I want to play on the Campfire!" He's even learned to ask me if the thing is charged because I use that as one of my reasons as to why he can't play on it (again). I find this one funny because of how much it confuses the outside world, until I translate. People seriously have no idea what he's asking for but once I explain, they are usually very amused. The whole image is also helped by the fact that the case on our Kindle is a lovely shade of burnt-ish orange...very campfire appropriate. Ben & I like this one so much that we have started using it as well, asking each other where the Campfire is and if it's charged. :)
Musekick (Music): I love, love, love this word. I'm a huge music fan and we listen to music all the time in our house. Harrison suddenly seems to know the words to all of the songs that we've spent the last two and a half years listening to with him and I love hearing him sing along at top speed. He actually gets a lot of the words right (more than I do sometimes!) and he also adds some interpretive dance moves and shoulder shimmies when he sings that might make him a great candidate for a front man of a band someday. Plus I really like the idea that music, something so inspirational to so many, can be conveyed as the muses getting a kick out of life.
Myze (Mine): For some time now, HD has impressed me with his use of pronouns. He gets his "he"s and "you"s and "I"s, etc. right almost all the time. What I find funny, though, is this made up pronoun he has developed that appears to be a hybrid of "my" and "is" so I can only assume that he means "mine" by it. Well, that and the fact that he defiantly declares "MYZE!" when he grabs something away from Raegan or another child makes his meaning pretty clear. I love it because, again, it does make sense even if it isn't a "real" word. "My (fill-in-the-blank) is this! Give it to me!" I have a feeling "myze" may become a staple as his baby sister grows and really begins to get into his stuff!
I'm sure there are more, but this is all that I can think of for the time being. I will try to record more as they come to me or as he comes up with them. Toddler language is both a mystery and a riot and I want to remember these little gems!
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