"Down thee 'atch"

I don't know where this came from, but Oliver now loves to say "down thee 'atch" (i.e. down the hatch) in a rather pirate-esque accent. I use it now when he's eating - a handy tool to persauade him what fun it is for him to eat his dinner rather than go and play or watch TV.

We sat on his sofa last night at bedtime with the little man drinking his milk. Every time he went to drink some he'd say the phrase, then I'd say it and he'd be unable to drink for laughing. We ended up in that lovely situation where neither of us could talk for laughing, just silence in the room apart from us trying to catch our breath. It was a splendid (if temporary) tonic for my current flu/cold/whatever-the-heck-it-is. OK, we had to change his pyjamas because he got milk all down them, but it was a small price to pay.

This morning I showed him the hatch on his pirate ship and explained that's what it meant. He seemed to get it. "Down thee 'atch" he said, as I threw his box of treasure into it.

This afternoon although the joke might have past its best, I got him to say it one more time.