Nice Bike

Bronwen has turned into a parrot. Everything I say, she repeats, with identical inflection and emotion, but missing some of the harder consonants. It can be totally enduring, entirely annoying, and utterly embarrassing. Like when I spilled water all over Piper’s bed and shouted “Sh*t!” and Bronwen promptly chanting, “Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, mommy!” I had heard that these things happened, but it is hilarious when your cutie little baby starts cursing!

So, instead of letting her learn how to speak from listening to me, I have decided to give her a little direction and teach her some life lessons along the way. In August we drove up to New York state for a wedding and on the way we stopped at a Sheetz gas station to refuel and get some food. We decided to sit outside of the building and eat our lunch before getting back on the road. As we ate, a gang of rough looking Harley bikers pulled up in front of us. The noise was unbearable. Bronwen started to get scared and grabbed me around my neck. I sat her down on my lap to watch as the bikers parked and turned off their bikes.

“See, Bronwen, when you meet a biker, you always want to make sure that you become friends. It's not hard to do. Just tell him is “Nice Bike!” I told her.

“Nice bike!” she said to the biker that walked by us.

“Thanks, man!” he told her.

“Nice bike,” she chatted to the next biker as he strutted into Sheetz.

“Hey, thanks,” he smiled.

“See,” I told her, “they love you know. You always want bikers to be on your side!”

“Nice bike,” she replied.

For the rest of the drive to NY, every time we saw a biker on the highway she would say out of the window, “nice bike!” And to this day, if she hears a loud noise, like a bike, or sees a biker drive by, she will shout out, “nice bike!”

September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate day, so I am working with her right now to say, “Argh, scurvy dogs!” She is having some trouble with the “sc” sound, but we’ll get it. Maybe I ought to try something a little easier, like “Avast, me hearties!” or just “Ahoy!”