For as long as she has had the ability to speak, Averi has referred to yogurt as “dodoke” (pronounced dough-doke). And since I’m a lousy mom with little concern for my child’s cognitive or social development, I don’t bother to correct her.
“Sure, sweetheart, I’ll get you some sugar-and-chemical-filled dodoke. Just let mommy finish her mid-morning nap first. Oh, and can you hand me that lit candle and the lighter fluid while you’re at it?”
Truthfully, Averi’s made-up word for yogurt is one of those things I can’t emotionally bring myself to correct. I know that eventually she will grow out of it, and I’ll be forced to reread my own blog to remember this phase of her life. (Now you know why I really blog.)
But there is one member of our family who is not pleased at all with Averi’s made-up words. This is the same person who used to say “veeps” instead of chips and “mope” instead of milk. This is the same person who currently believes that pajama pants are called “legs” (I guess because we would hold up his pajamas and simply say, “legs”). JJ is NOT happy that we allow his sister to continue with her 2-year-old nonsense, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Warning: The video you are about to see may be disturbing for viewers without children.
I would like to issue a disclaimer here that I am not okay with the way my children are speaking to each other in this video.
[Sure, you made that perfectly clear while you silently recorded them.]
However, this was the first time I have ever witnessed the two of them so passionate about the English language. And I guess that just made the writer in me very happy.
[It should have made the disciplinarian in you very UNhappy.]
Screaming and yelling aside, I do think “dodoke” is one of my favorite words that Averi says.
What are/were some of your kids’ made-up words?
P.S. – I’m pregnant.
P.S.S. – Happy April Fool’s Day, Mom!
I LOVE how Averi resorts to saying it 3 octaves higher to get her point across!
My little one used to say crash can instead of trash can and I miss it! My niece used to say pippow instead of pillow!
And I LOVE your blog!
This is so funny, I’m going to send you a case of ear plugs if this is your fate for the next few years. My nephew used to say Uncle Jump instead of Uncle John.
“Pamcakes.” That’s one that I remember. You and Drew would tell your mother (ironically named Pam) that you wanted “Pamcakes” for breakfast. I guess for our grandchildren they will be “Preciouscakes.”
For some reason Averi’s high pitched squeal brings back some, shall we say, “memories” from your childhood. 🙂 She obviously has that Hinesley mentality that “if I say it louder, it gets my point across and it’s easier for you to understand.”
Did I say pamcakes? That doesn’t sound like me. I’m pretty sure I was smarter than that. 🙂 Also, I didn’t scream. I just matched the volume level in the household.
Ah! I think I head that exact same conversation just the other day, only not about yogurt.
Roran used to have every speech impediment that exists so the list of mispronounced words is VERY long. My favorite was toomunder for cucumber.
My sister said ootwah for a pbj. And my brother used to say boggle for bottle, blanket, and Popsicle. Guess how fun it was to figure out which he wanted.
HAHA! Yes… story of my life. My twins correct each other… only they both have Avery’s vocabulary. And they correct each other with their own personal interpretation of pronunciation… which usually doesn’t include ‘L’ or ‘R’ consonants. It’s pretty humorous. I’m so jealous that you got this video, because anytime I whip out the camera or my phone, one gets shy and one smiles really big at the camera. But either way they stop whatever they’re doing. 🙁
Beth, I TOTALLY know what you’re talking about! Normally the kids won’t “perform” when I turn on the camera, but they began this “lively discussion” without total awareness that I was there. Then, when they did notice the camera, they were too engaged to stop. It was great timing, I suppose. Also, Google Glass would be PERFECT in this situation. If only I hadn’t returned mine (I guess I haven’t told that story here yet . . . must do that soon). I just wrote an entire post in this response.
My son combines the word “Move” and “Excuse You” and says “Mushu” (Mooo-Shoe) when he wants us to move.
When my sister was little, I would get frustrated with her pronouncing things wrong, so I would give her other words to use instead. For example, she couldn’t pronounce my name (‘Heaver’), so she called me Sissy instead. This lasted until she was about 12. She also couldn’t say vanilla (what kid can??) but it was her favorite flavor of ice cream, so she called it ‘the white stuff’. She’s now an English writing major. I take credit for introducing her to the concept of synonyms.
My 15 month old is working on her vocabulary, but there are a lot of consonants that she hasn’t figured out yet. So (among others) ‘no’ is ‘doh’ (like Homer Simpson). But my favorite is ‘thank you’, which comes out as ‘dan-tue’ and is the cutest darn thing you ever did hear.
Hey there, Heaver! My best friend is also Heather, and her nephew (I think) called her “Haver.” I call her that to this day. Well, that or “H Bomb” because her initials are HHH. I also like “H cubed” or “Edder.”
Your videos are hysterical!!
My 2.5 year old daughter says “fezwitch” for sandwich, her pacifier is an “issy” and there are a multitude of other hilarious ones as well but for some reason they are escaping me…of course!
Fezwitch sounds like a Harry Potter word! Love it!
My 2 year old daughter calls yogurt “bickert.” I pity anyone who babysits for us, because since I’m home all day I’ve adjusted to words like “bo-bos,” which is what my son calls Nila Wafers…but it could be very confusing when they ask a sitter for things like “Jake’s Gold Doubloon Pizza,” which is actually just a cheese quesadilla, but for marketing purposes (i.e. to get my son to eat it) I re-branded it using one of his favorite Disney shows, and now he loves them.
I agree that it’s hard to correct them, because someday they won’t say such adorable things…my 11 year old daughter’s snarky comments aren’t nearly as cute 😉
My grandson went through a phase of using the “T” sound for an “S”. So, the morning of his aunt’s wedding, in which he was the ring bearer, we heard this:
“I’m toe ektited to wear my tuktedo today 🙂
The things that Nanas love…..
I am just amazed that they sat at the table for 5 hours!! They are adorable even when they disagree with each other!! J.J. will learn soon enough not to argue with a girl or a 2 1/2 year old!
The 5 hours was a *bit* of an exaggeration. You know how I am . . . actually, you do. I’m exactly like you. A *bit* dramatic. 😉
LOVED IT!!!
My oldest for her first Christmas talking told everyone “Merry Kiss-Kiss Tee”
We also had the girl that left the beginning consonants off of words. This HAD to be corrected when she used “erection” for DIRECTION. I was waiting for the call from CPS about her daddy giving her good erections about brushing her teeth.
Lots of favorites from my two:
Breaf-kist (breakfast)
BA BA sheppy. (Baa baa black sheep)
Bottomer (bottom)
Blankin (blanket)
Love those babies!!!
My son currently calls his piggy bank his hanky pank. I secretly love it, too cute.
Hands down my favorite one of the day. That’s hilarious, Christine! Love it!
Libby’s first word was “naaaaaaak??” for snack
Maggie still says some funny things at 4 yrs old.
She refuses to call the Ken doll Ken; he’s “Bob”.
Potato chips are tomato chips.
Now my mind has gone totally blank. There are several more. I need to write them down before she grows up and learns how to speak correctly. Also, she has a lisp because she STILL sucks her fingers and carries around a ragged, pink puppy everywhere we go. I’m counting on her pre-K teacher to knock out those habits in the fall
🙂 🙂
LL
My 2 year old makes up entirely new words. My current fave is “whobody”… She’ll get upset about something (like a broken toy) and say “whobody did this?” Usually with her hands on her hips and giving us all her angry eyes… she’s a wee bit dramatic.
Our 4 year olds first word was truck, but he couldn’t make the TR sound… I’m sure you know where this is going. He would scream his version of the word over and over, even in public. It was equal parts embarrassing and hilarious!
Katy,
Rhett used to call yogurt ‘yogrit.’ Maybe had something to do with the fact that grits were his choice of breakfast every day for over a year.
He also went through a whole phase of learning to say Christina: Ka-Ka, Kina, Kisskina, Kisstina, and, finally, Christina. So precious.
Great video of JJ and Averi! Love it!!
Aunt Kathy