As a reminder to those who don't know us well, we met our son Dylan when he was 4, and his adoption was finalized when he was 5 1/2. There was much of his life that we didn't get a chance to experience, and ever since we knew him, we were struck by his excellent verbal skills. He had a vocabulary that went far beyond what would be expected for a 4-year-old (most of it even appropriate...just wise beyond his years).
It was pretty amazing when people met him for the first time because he was really tiny for his age, so people would think he was even younger than he was. Then he would start talking with his little gruff voice in sentences that Mike would be proud to string together ;)
Because of this, we really liked hearing some things from him that truly showed his innocence. Here are some of our favorites from those early years:
- "Mops" and "graham hoppers" (moths and grasshoppers)
- "Rolliemote" (the remote control for the t.v.)
- "Rote matrol" (a remote control car or other vehicle)
- The "tuna voice" (once when Dylan was in trouble, Mike or I said to not make us use that "tone of voice", and Dylan from that point on would ask us to not use the "tuna voice"). We still use the phrase in our family now!
- Dylan and Mike were riding in the car, and Mike asked Dylan why he got in trouble in school that day. Dylan replied "Dad, that's a hard question, can you ask somethin' else?" Mike thought he was doing a pretty good job of keeping his response hidden until he heard a voice from the back seat: "Dad, are you done laughing yet?"
- We have long enjoyed the blurb from the movie "Up" where the one dog would be diverted from any other task with the word "Squirrel!". We joked that it was just like Dylan. Mike and Dylan were riding in the car having a conversation about something, and suddenly Dylan stopped in the middle of a sentence and said "squirrel!" pointing to a squirrel outside the car.
- We were leaving a gathering at my sister's house, and Dylan was frustrated that we were leaving just as they were starting a bonfire and he wouldn't get to "marsh the lemmos"
- Another one we got to enjoy for quite a while is when he would "skretch" his body (stretch)
- And, last but not least, Mike took Dylan into a public restroom. Dylan was in the stall doing his "business". It was taking awhile, so Mike asked how he was doing. Dylan reported "almost done...just a couple more", and then Mike heard a "whoa, whoa" and asked what happened. Dylan said that he was "practicin'". Mike was scared to ask, but it turns out that Dylan was using the "grown up seat" which really meant he was trying to just sit on the bowl without the seat, and had almost fallen in!
