Interpreter Needed

Usually I can make out what Emma is trying to say to me if I listen closely, watch her body language, and use context clues, but this morning she had Matt and I completely stumped. I bit my lower lip, raised my eyebrows sheepishly and admitted, "I'm sorry, Emma, I can't understand you. What did you say?"

She narrowed her eyes to glare at me, then repeated slowly, as if I was hearing impaired, "Ah I why ah a ah-ee ah ow aiw?!" I thought a moment. I was fairly sure that the "ah-ee" I had heard was "potty" so I ventured a guess, "you need to go potty?" "No!" she snapped back at me, then rolled her eyes. I looked helplessly to Matt. He shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea...hey, Hannah," he called to Emma's pseudo-twin in the next room, "what did Emma just say?"

"Oh, she said 'Can I ride on a hoppy ball downstairs?'" Hannah replied nonchalantly. Dumbfounded, I turned to Emma, "Is that what you said?" "Yeah!" Emma grinned. I turned back to Hannah, "Hannah, how did you know that's what she was saying?" "I don't know," Hannah shrugged, "It just sounded like that." And off ran the Siamese twins, attached at the brain. Matt sighed, "Hannah is handy to have around sometimes."