Words, words, words!

Another overshare post, I'm sure...but I am just so amazed at the development of my son! The latest breakthrough since turning 1 has been his sponge-like absorbency of trying out new words. His very first word (or mimic) was around 10 months...saying "uh-oh". He really didn't know what it meant, but repeated as he threw things, dropped things, or saw us drop or fumble with something. You can only guess how proud we were and waited longingly for more words to spring up like popcorn...

Well, uh-oh was followed by...you guessed it...DA-DA! Not "mama"...the woman who carried him for nine months, cuddles with him, and worries about him at all moments of the day. No, it was "dada"...his fun-loving, energetic, roll-around-buddy who is quite honestly one of the BEST fathers (no bias, really!) I have ever seen interact with his child. :-) When asked to say "mama" for the longest time...he would reply "dada" with that mischievious grin that is 80% adorable and about 20% joking. Who says babies don't have sense of humors?

From there...Noah's biggest changes were walking and exploring with his arms and legs. He really didn't say too much else even with constant repetition from us. Then around 14 months the floodgates of the spoken word have been opened! D and B sounds are the easiest for him, and he often prefers to use those sounds in substitution for the actual letter it's supposed to be. For example, "mama" was finally spoken...except it's "baba" as he looks at me when I say "who am I?". Still mealts my heart...however I am looking forward to the "m" sound being learned soon.

Noah's current list of words that he usually says in an exclamatory (!) or interrogative tone (?):
*uh-oh
*kitty (keeee)
*doggy (daw-dy)
*hot (pronounced "hah!" as he touches anything very hot...or ice cold :-)
*duck (da)
*dada
*mama (baba)
*bye-bye (ba-buy)
*baby (ba-bee)
*Opa (bah)
*Micah (ahhh)
*zebra (bra-bra)
*Brown Bear his favorite book (brow-bra)

And my favorite (and most recent mimic)...what does a cow say, Noah? "mmmmmm...." as he tilts his little head back. In the video pic, you'll have to watch for the "mmmm..." sound :-)