Bips

There are some words that your toddler says that you will remember forever. For instance, a sippy cup is still called a bubba even though neither of my kids use one anymore.

If you were to ask Phoenix what his favorite cereal is, he would say "Peanut Butter Chocolate Flava" and would roll his head while saying it. Mind you, the cereal's real name is Reece's Chocolate Peanut Butter Puffs.

When Phoenix was about 2 years old, he called chips "bips." And boy did he love his chips. You wouldn't even think of taking the Pringles can from him.

"Back off my bips," he'd say.

That holiday season we had a party to attend at a friend's house. Many of the guests had kids and they had all brought new toys from Santa. Down the hall, the boys raced cars on the wood floor, while in the spare bedroom, the girls worked on an art project. In the living room, friends gathered around an enormous Christmas tree decorated with blue glowing lights and shiny, blue, retro-styled, glass ornaments.

As the evening lingered sleepy children found their way to their parents' laps or the warm laps of their parents' friends. I sat on the couch with Maginnis in my arms while Phoenix made the social rounds about the coffee table. Engaged in a converstaion with a friend I had not seen in some time (probably not since th last holiday party) I felt a subtle nudge from someone sitting next to me. When I turned my attention to her, she tilted her head in the direction of Phoenix. Looking up, I saw the entire room staring at Phoenix as he took bip after bip, licked off the salt, and then returned the bip to the basket. My gasp made everyone erupt into laughter.

Now every year, when we go to the same friend's house for their annual holiday party, I am reminded by everyone of the "bip licking incident."