Several of C’s friends and acquaintances are bi-lingual – speaking both English and Spanish. Even Madrina (one of his godmothers) speaks Spanish.

I don’t.

A few days ago, we were out and about when someone sneezed. Several people said “Bless you!” and I (as is my habit) said “Gesundheit!” Realizing that C probably had no idea what I’d just said, I looked at him, “that means ‘god bless you’”

He nodded. “I know. It’s Spanish.”

Most of the crowd nearby chuckled at this, so we just kind of moved on.

Now, his Spanish is getting a bit worse. This evening at dinner, he started yelling at his little brother. I don’t remember the exact syllables, but it was your basic 3-year old wordless gibberish. When I say yelling, I should put it in better context. The two boys like to torment each other by yelling/growling. It’s not like C was angry or anything, he was just picking on his little brother.

Of course, J stopped him. “Hey! Is that being nice? You have to be nice to your little brother!”

Without missing a beat, C looked at her with his angel-face. “I know, momma. I know. I wasn’t yelling at him. I was speaking Spanish. I was being nice.” He nodded. “Very nice.”

Note to self: learn Spanish.