I want a parrot

I have long looked forward to having a child, simply because there is a particular age, when the child has begun to learn to talk, at which you can teach them to say ANYTHING YOU WANT. How fun is that? And when it's my kid, I can teach him to say the things I wasn't allowed to teach my nieces ("shake your booty" got me in a lot of trouble).

Morgan was almost 2 years old when 9/11 happened. She was quickly taught to say that she "didn't like bin Laden" and that the bad guy was "Mohammed Atta." At that age her favorite baseball team was the Dodgers, her favorite car was a Ferrari, her favorite group was U2, and her favorite building was Library Tower. And she would sometimes tell you that "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius!"

Tonight we had dinner at Brian and Ashlee's. Eszter is at that magic age. She calls her parents Daddy-o and Mamacita, and when we showed up she was wearing a pair of gloves on her feet. She sometimes says "Hijo le!" and has been known to use the Spanish words for near and far. She knows that men don't carry purses, they carry man bags, and today she informed her mother that "Eszter is a woman!" I'm trying to teach her the term fashion victim (I have high hopes). Tonight we were forbidden to mention that we were drinking Sprite, because Eszter would want some. So we decided to call it beer. Brian said, "Eszter, can you say Cerveza?" And she joyfully answered back, "Cerveza!!" She may or may not have been holding a shot glass at the time. I can't wait until this one comes up in the church nursery.

And I can't wait until next year!