Enunciate!

So . . . Sontoo is at the repeating phase of his short little life. At almost-two, he latches on to a word, or phrase and rattles it off, time and time and time again, until Daddy's eyes cross and he's about to go postal.

What's more, if you don't respond each and every time to his request or statement, he'll get a little pissy about it. This is especially true if he fakes a fall.

"I tumbleweed dada, I tumbleweed dada, I tumbleweed dada, I tumbleweed dada."

Each successive declaration increases in volume and irritation factor. It's one of those days. Patience is rapidly dwindling (Sonwun, surrounded by a mountain of toys: "I'm bored.") and I've got a mess of stuff to do today.

After feeding the boys and cleaning the kitchen, I got a load of laundry in, completed my grocery list and headed for Safeway. Upon arrival and prior to exiting the van, Sonwun recited his self-styled and traditional oath of good behaviour (believing it would earn him Mario Kart time) and then proceeded to shatter said oath 30 seconds into the fresh produce aisle.

Sontoo, on the other hand, decided it was a good time to break out of his shell. He offered a chipper "Hewwo" to anyone within 15 feet and, keeping with his newfound joy of repetition, continued hewwoing until he either got a response or out of sight.

And he saved his best for the checkout. In the magazine rack was a Thomas the Train colouring book. Sontoo loves Thomas and all of his friends from the Island of Sodor. In particular, he recognizes and knows the names of Thomas, James and Percy.

And, at the checkout, he started reciting the names. He got stuck on Percy and kept repeating, at successively increasing volume, the name Percy.

Problem is, his enunciation is still a little on the weak side. And so, while I knew exactly what he was saying, the checkout girl, the three people standing in line, the next checkout girl and the people in her line, heard my 2-year-old son was repeating the word "pussy" over and over and over and at ever increasing volume levels.

And, because he's feeling quite social this day, he's actually speaking to, and looking at, the checkout girl while saying this.

I've got nothing else to add. Have a great day.