E-I-E-I-O and venison

One of Devon’s more precious selling points is his propensity for singing. The child is constantly breaking into song about most anything. If he isn’t actually belting out a bonafide tune, he will be putting regular words to the melody of ” Mary Had a Little Lamb”. It is not at all uncommon to hear him singing that same tune with words about his wafffles and the dogs.
Tonight on the way home from the swimming pool, Devon was sitting in the back seat going through “Old McDonald’s Farm” and adding as many animals as he possibly could to the mix. We had been going along for about 10 miles when he started singing about deer on McD’s farm. He asked, “Mai-Mai? Ut ma fen the deeeeeer say?” Translation: Mommy, what sound does my friend the deer make? I have to interject here that every day we must bring the car to many stops and slow-downs as we wind our way into the country where my mother lives. Devon loves to chat about the many cows, horses and now deer that litter the pastures on the route. Since the deer are fairly new to the mix, it is especially exciting to spy them during our drives. A deer sighting always requires a complete stop of the car followed by much chatting and excitement until we have scared them away.
So as we were driving home this evening, I had to be honest with Devon. Deer don’t say anything. Unless they are in mortal danger, they are fairly silent creatures. I knew Devon would not like my answer, but I told him anyway. The arguing that followed warmed my heart and made me proud of his beligerant genes. The escalating noise and denial over my statement was fairly impressive. He finally decided that I had likely lost my mind because every animal up to this point has produced a noise for his songs. He then proceeded to tell me that, “My fren deeeeer say ooof-ooof, Mai-Mai! Like dog!”
Duh. Obviously.