In the last few weeks, some of Ethan’s favorite words/phrases, surprisingly enough, have been “Please” (pronounced “peas”), “Thank you,” “Excuse me” (pronounced “scoos me”), and, to a lesser degree (or at least more recent), “Sorry” (pronounced “sar-you”).
Ethan has been using “please” the longest. Awhile back, Ethan learned to add “please” to “more” when he wants more food (he now uses it for other things besides food). And because we like to hear him say please, it works most of the time! 😆
When we give Ethan something or do something for him, he’ll often respond with “Thank you.” We like to hear that, too. Sometimes, though, when we ask Ethan to do something or not do something, he stubbornly refuses to comply. But as soon as we take a step toward him, he’ll smile, comply, and say, “Thank you” (which is what we say to him when he does comply) all at the same time.
While we taught him to say “Excuse me” after something like burping, he somehow picked up on using the phrase when he got in someone else’s way or needed to get by someone else. A few days ago, Ethan met another toddler at the top of a playground slide and said, “Excuse me.”
First, Ethan is a fast, intuitive learner, so he picks up on stuff very quickly. We’ve never had to hassle him to say “please” or “thank you.” And I hope he’s picked up these phrases because he sees those around him modeling them. As we often say, some things are better caught than taught.