"how do you say it?"

I feel like we say this phrase 100 times a day in a few variations:

"How do you ask me?" "How do you talk to me?" "I can't listen to you when you talk like that."
"What's the nice way to say it?" "What do we say?" "Can you try asking again?"

And then they almost always respond in extra sweet voices. Noah is especially funny. He'll say something that sounds like "ehhwennadintahwallahh," in a low, grumbley tone behind his binky.
I'll ask him to how he should ask me. He'll pop out his binky and with dimples beaming and in a high-pitched chirpy voice say "pweez I hava drink a wader!" His voice always goes up dramatically at the end.

When we were home for Christmas, my brother Seth was teasing him, playfully saying he was going to tickle him until he turned blue. Noah grumbled something like "ehduhwahnnabebwue." They get a kick out of his inflections, so Seth asked him to say it nicely. Noah responded with a clear and chipper "pweez don turn me bwew!"

At what point they will start saying things nicely on their own, I do not know. But it's important for me that my boys aren't snotty, so we'll keep on it.

Taylor was funny the other night. Jack wanted something Tays had and was getting upset. "Jack, you need to talk nicely," I reminded him. "Taywor, pwease can I have that basket?" He asked so sweetly. "NO! You can't!" came the angry and determined response from Taylor. "Taylor, that's not how we talk. How do you say it?" Kev asked. Taylor sweetened up and said
"Pweese can I don't give it to Jack?" Oh, those boys.

Here's an old picture that made me smile today when I came across it. How quickly they grow.

Taylor ............................. Jack
................Noah