First Words

I always imagined that my baby's first words would be a profound and recognizable moment. He would look at me, arms outstretched, and say very clearly, "Mama."

Truth be told, TLB has been saying "mama" for quite some time now -- or rather, he's been saying the "ma" syllable in repetition, as well as "da" and "ba." So what he has been saying to me is not "Mama," but "ma ma ma ba ba da"... which makes no sense whatsoever. I know he's saying stuff. I just have no clue what it is.

This being said, it's very possible that he has been saying words to me for some time, and I, with my ridiculously high expectations of this child, simply have not noticed. This occurred to me the other morning when, as I was bundling TLB off to the car, I said, "Bye-bye, Daddy." We (and by "we" I really mean "I") always say bye-bye to Daddy in the mornings, just like we say hi and bye to the baby in the mirror at bathtime. This particular morning, however, TLB waved to his father and said "bah bah." My husband and I were stunned. The kid actually said bye to him! We were such proud parents!

A moment later, he waved again and said "Hi." This skill obviously needs some fine tuning.

Thinking back, there has been the occasional, random "ma ma" or "da da" that might actually have been words, but as I said, they are not what I imagined. I think I may need to lower my expectations for this poor kid, or he'll surely be huffing by the time he's seven.