How would you handle this?

[Mamato3wild ponnie]

My 26 month old was an early talker and speaks very clearly and lets us know his wants and needs clearly. He recently has started telling everyone "shut up" And it's random....sometimes....when someone needs to be quite and other times....it is not ok. Personally i dont think it's ever ok to say that. I dont say it...and i'm not sure where he's picked it up from. Guessing his older brothers. I dont want to bring to much attention to it. But i feel that i've got to do something. I know that there are certain ways of handling this type of behavior....but i want to appraoch it in a loving caring way. Any ideas?

[Okapi]

Have you tried giving him something else to say? For a while, if DH and/or I were having conversations with other adults, especially if they got too loud or fast for her to follow or if she thought we were getting upset, DD would just start yelling "stop! Stop!" We had quite a few conversations about polite ways to get people's attention, and now (about 6 months later), she is much more likely to say "excuse me." Although, a lot of times she says it so quietly the speaker doesn't hear her, so after a couple of tries the polite way, it ends up escalating back to yelling "stop!" Still, it's a step in the right direction, right? Now that I know she does it, I pay attention for it and am able to intercept.