A Very Special Two-Year-Old Thanksgiving

We had a very memorable Thanksgiving.

At one point Grandma’s talking to my daughter, Belle, on the (pretend) cell phone. Belle’s like, “Um, hello? Um, yes. Um, goodbye.” So she “hangs up” on Grandma and then Grandma asks her, “OK, where are you going to put your phone?” Belle looks around and Grandma says, “You don’t have any pockets.”

So Belle lifts up her dress and inserts the phone into her tights.

Thanksgiving week got off to a great start for me because:

A) I only had to work two days after a busy week, during which a building literally blew up 30 minutes before a news conference I was organizing; and

B) Belle and I watched college basketball together for the first time.

“Packers!” she says, looking at the basketball players but thinking it was pro football. “Nope, that’s basketball,” I say, “Marquette versus Duke. Marquette’s the good guys.” Nothing against Duke, my sister and brother-and-law went there, but half my family went Marquette, and most of them either lived or currently live in Milwaukee. I don’t expect Marquette will win, since Duke is the perennial powerhouse in NCAA hoops, but Marquette waxes them by 11 to win a tournament. Their point guard, Dominic James, does a reverse dunk on a breakaway. I show the dunk to Belle.

“Yea!” she claps, clearly impressed. “Hims dunk ‘gain? Hims dunk ‘gain?” My wife says it’s natural for two-year-olds to use the wrong pronouns, but my theory is she’s trying to speak Spanglish. She says things like “I bring mis doll to the store!” Mis is actually a proper Spanish pronoun. So we watch hims dunk about a dozen times, much to the glee of Belle and me. Belle’s mommy would never ask to watch a dunk a dozen times!

Thanksgiving morning, we’re changing Belle’s diaper and getting her ready for the big day. “No put poo in hair?” she asks. My wife and I giggle and say, “Yes, that’s right. Don’t put poo in your hair.”

“No put poo in mouth?” she asks.

“No, definitely not in your mouth,” we say.

Fortunately, I was able to wipe that memory away before sitting down to an amazingly delicious Thanksgiving buffet. It included pumpkin and apple pie, of course, and a Greek dessert which I can’t pronounce.

“Galaktoboureko,” my brother-in-law says, it’s a traditional Greek dessert. He’s from Cyprus and speaks fluent Greek and English.

“Yes, I’ll have some Galactic Burrito, please!” I say. It was quite buttery--delicious.

So let’s see: Reverse dunks, an upset victory, no poo in mouth, turkey, apple pie, good health and Galactic Burritos? What more could a guy want on Thanksgiving?

Happy holidays!