And You Thought Bumpershoot Was a Cool Word

Like all kids, Brendan has come up with quite a few words of his own creation. Some were mere mispronunciations, like "mutmo," which eventually evolved into oatmeal. For months, Cooper, our dog, was called "Cooptu," and car is still often, "tar."

My favorites, though, are the words that combine two other words or thoughts, into one new, unusual word. Try as we may, we can't convince Brendan that the device that protects you from the rain is not actually a "rainbrella." Nor does he believe us when we tell him that it's actually a telescope and not a "piratescope."

Truth be told, I don't try all that hard to correct him. I work on the mispronunciations. But the quirky words and phrases, I know, will fade away on their own. He's showing signs of pre-reading. He constantly asks what letter everything starts with and his favorite letter is "B." "I start with B," he shouts gleefully. And I know my days of laughing at his oddball words are to be short-lived.

So, for now, I'll enjoy every one of his adorable expressions and pray I can keep the days at bay when he'll roll his eyes in embarrassment when I remind him to take his "rainbrella."