Words

Once a baby starts to show any inclination towards speech, we parents hover over them and repeat "dada" or "mama" in a completely non-embarrassing attempt to influence the baby's first word. I honestly can't remember...

Kate (spinning): Daddy, look at me!
Me: Wow, Kate, that's great. Now, can you play quietly by yourself? Daddy's trying to write something.

Anyway, I honestly can't remember what Clara or Kate's first words were, but I'm willing to bet they were either "dada" or "mama."

Kate: Daddy...

A few weeks ago, Cecilia started to play with sounds. After several days of having "dada" and "mama" repeated at her, Megan won out when Cecilia clearly said, "Mamamamama."

Kate: Daddy!

Since then, Cecilia has been playing with her voice, alternating between "mamama," "dadadada," "lalalala," "babababa," and other similar combinations.

Kate: Daddy!!!
Me: What?!? I'm trying to do something.
Kate: I have my shoe on my ear!
Me: Lovely.

So anyway, Cecilia had yet to assign regular words to anything, and certainly wouldn't repeat words on command. This morning Cecilia was quiet in the back of the car as I drove to an ATM. I didn't want her to fall asleep and mess up her nap, so I started calling her name. Quietly from the back seat came a sweet, "dada."

Kate: Daddy, you know what I want to be for Halloween?
Me: A Butterfly?
Kate: No, a spider!
Me: Kate, can you go play with your toys on the third floor?
Kate: I don't want to.

Needless to say, I was very proud that Cecilia heard my voice, recognized me as her daddy, and verbalized it in such a sweet way. It made me look forward to all the things she's going to say one day.

Kate (evidently thinking about The Incredibles): The mean guy is really, really angry. But not the little guy. He's fast. His name is Dash. I don't like the mean guy. Can we watch The Incredibles? Please? My baby wants to watch it, too.
Me: Kate, can you just stop talking? Just for a few minutes.
Clara: No.

I guess I should be careful what I wish for.