They Know What They Say

I had started this with the intention of 'compiling' the amusing things Ethan said (recently). Then I realise: it is getting difficult to record the conversations, primarily because he is at an age where what he says could be just a display of his gradually maturing thoughts and not really, like something worth noting down as amusingly precocious. Anyway, I had left this unfinished for so long because I couldn't find quite so many things that would motivate me to whisk a pen and paper from that far-off table and note them down (my brain has too many leaks). Until this morning. An amusing verbal incident happened - not to Ethan, but to Jethro. And I thought I would combine both and be done with it.

Ethan's like, mostly very rough with his brother - wrestling, hitting, shouting, pushing, elbowing... but really, he's not that bad...

When Jethro refuses to go into the lift, and all beckonings fail, I would sometimes threaten (futilely) to leave him outside. Ethan would get really anxious and said, "No, Jethro's still there!" And then called urgently to Jethro, "Jethro, come in! COME IN!"

Once Ethan was eating an apple. Jethro took an orange and tried to bite on it too. Ethan patiently explained to him that 'not all fruits you can eat the skin. Apple can, orange cannot.'

Jethro has acquired the exasperating habit of poking anyone and everyone, including strangers. He especially likes to do so in the lift, making me wish there's a hole in the ground I could just sink into. One day, he was poking Ethan when Ethan's back was turned. Expecting Ethan to berate him, I was surprised to see him calmly turn around and sternly told Jethro, "Jethro, I will give you one more chance." Of course, I made sure Ethan never got to show what he would do if Jethro used up that chance.

If you asked Ethan, "Do you want a baby sister or brother?" He would answer matter-of-factly, "A sister. Because there are two brothers now (he includes himself), so we should have a sister." It's heartening to hear him 'welcome' a new addition to the family like this. But alas, Ethan, Mummy cannot help its gender.

Ethan has rather good memories on cars, if not on anything else. Recently, he was still talking about his 大姑丈's brother's car. He said, "Next time we'll get a car that is bigger than 大姑丈's brother's car. Not just three rows, but four. Can store (he probably meant 'sit') 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 persons! E and R will sit with their mother. N will..." Those are his cousins by the way. Took me some while to figure out who this 大姑丈's brother is. We had used his car, an MPV, on our trip to Malaysia in April. April, four months ago.

Jethro in the morning, in the car, on the way to Childcare Centre, sometimes has this glazed look over his eyes, like he's really, really, bored with life. But sometimes he'd be quite engaged. He's also at this stage where he's micmicking the words of almost everyone he hears, in particular his brother. Yes, I kid you not, he's just at about this stage, no further, at the point of approaching two.

It's become his custom to ask about the whereabouts of his brother at least once on our way to work. This morning, he asked again, "Where Gor-gor?" After having asked this question without fail at least once each morning, I've gotten a bit bored with it and thus answered in a non-standard English way, "Gor-gor at school LAH!" Next moment, he's asking Jianming the same question, "Daddy, where Gor-gor?" Jianming probably found it pointless to repeat the answer, so he asked him back the same question. To which Jethro replied in an almost perfect imitation of my tone, "Gor-gor shgool AH!"