Two of my best friends had their first child, a baby girl, about 18 months ago.

Lu Lu Bagoo (as I call her) has many aunties, and as she’s learned to talk, we take turns coaxing her to say our names whenever we’re together.

She does really well even tackling the three syllable names with style. There’s just one that she gets stuck on…

The conversation usually goes something like this:

Auntie 1: “Lu, say Nicole”

Lu Lu: “cool”

Auntie 2: “Now say Cheryl”

Lu Lu: “shurl”

Auntie 3: “Can you say Jessica?”

Lu Lu: “jecca”

Auntie 4: “Now, say Alissa”

Lu Lu: “lisha”

Auntie 5: “Ok Lu, say Sammy”

Lu Lu: “DUCK!”

Auntie 5: “No silly, say Sammy”

Lu Lu: “DUCK!”

This last exchange will repeat in an endless loop. I’ve heard her get that name right many times when there isn’t a crowd around. But for some reason, she stubbornly refuses to say it in front of an audience. It doesn’t matter who’s doing the coaxing, ask her to say Sammy and her eyes will dance with mischief as she grinningly answers “DUCK!”

I have a feeling it’s because she likes Auntie Sammy better than the rest of us. Lu Lu’s rubber ducks are her very favorite toys.