Kids are amazing. I went to a three year old's birthday party this weekend and hung out with kids (and some adults as well). Along with two and three year olds, there were a few younger ones still learning to stand and talk. It was funny watching them try so hard to form words. They grab a ball and struggle to call it by it's name. You can see in their faces that they know it's a darn ball, but their mouths don't cooperate and all that comes out is "Bbbawbbb", or another variation. I've noticed that they also try to repeat things that people around them are saying. A popular word to repeat this weekend was "Yeah", in a nonchalant tone. It's funny when you are having a conversation and say "Yeah" in agreement to something and two seconds later you hear "Yeah" in the same tone, only it's not your voice!
It was during a conversation similar to this that I found myself shocked and delighted when a friend's daughter, who only has a few words in her speaking repretoire, blurted out an echo of "Yeah, hot dog". It was clear as day and quite hilarious because that was the only thing she picked out of our conversation to repeat. We both stopped talking and looked at the small child rubbing kidney beans and chicken into her hair (as small children tend to do whilst eating) smiling away at the fact that she had just repeated something successfully. "Do you want a hot dog?" my friend asked.
"Yeah!" the child giggled.
"Say it again... say 'yeah, hot dog' one more time" she said.
"Yeah! hahahahahaha" was the child's response. But no "hot dog" followed so we figured it was a fluke.
She waited a few moments before repeating her new-found phrase during a completely non-related conversation.
"Yeah! Hot Dog!", we heard as we were talking about who to send to grab extra chairs to set on the patio.
It's completely awesome how children learn to speak, and it's even more amazing watching them.
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