“Uh, Trixie?”
“Yeah, Brian. What is it?”,
“Uh, you know that I love Nellie Bean and think she is wonderful, right?”
“Yeah, you do your own fair share of spoiling her rotten.”
“Well...uhm how do I say this without totally freaking you out? Trixie, have you ever considered that Nellie Bean might have a speech delay?”
Trixie looked at Brian in shock. “Speech delay? What are you talking about, Brian. Nellie Bean speaks very well for a two year old.”
“Now Trixie, don’t get upset with me. I just think, well I wonder if she might have some sort of cognitive issue.
While we were downtown today, we saw the busses. But instead of saying, bus, she was saying buzz, buzz. Later, she kept pointing out more busses, but it really sounded like she was calling them magical school bus. I kept repeating that to her, but she just shouted ‘No’ and said it all over again.”
Trixie started laughing. She laughed so hard she cried, and then sat down heavily on the floor.
“Brian! For a doctor, you sure don’t understand ‘little kid’ very well.
“What is the name of the bus that travels through Westchester County?”
Brian replied, “It is called the Bee-line bus, of course.”
“Uh huh. And how to they spell the name?”
“B-E-E L-I-N-E. So?”
“B-E-E as in bumble bee. And what do bumble bee’s say?
“Come on Brian. Your face is turning a very pretty shade of red, so I think you know the answer.”
Brian wore an embarrassed grin as he said, “Buzz. Bee’s say Buzz”
“Yes, they do. I have been doing a lot of traveling with Nellie Bean by bus and rail. For me, it is a lot easier to get around, when I don’t have to worry about finding a parking spot. For Nellie Bean, it is a grand adventure. Personally, I think my daughter is very smart to be saying, ‘buzz buzz’ for Buzz Bus or even Bee Bus.”
Brian laughed and then said, “But Trixie, what about ‘Magical School Bus’? How could she have ever seen that program. It went off the air years and years ago.”
Trixie answered, “Well, I happen to think that is even more brilliant. ‘Magical School Bus, is actually Nellie speak for Metro Road bus. She hears the announcements on both the bus and the train about ‘Metro Bus’ or ‘Metro Rail’. So now, anytime we are driving on the road through town, she will tell me when she sees the metro road bus.
“It was even more surprising the other day. I told her we were driving to the grocery store for shopping. When we got there, she announced, ‘Stop Requested’.
“No Brian. Nellie Bean doesn’t have any speech delay, she is taking after Mart with the words, and after me with the clue associations, and after Honey with the confusing speech patterns. Instead of Honey Speak, we are now going to have to get used to Nellie Speak.”
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