Alex's First Words

About two months ago Alex's Uncle Jonas came to visit us.  I only mention this because he was a third witness and can back-up the events that follow.

During Uncle Jonas's visit we took note of Alex's new ability to babble; more specifically her ability to babble "mamma."  It was with a great deal of pride that I proclaimed her first word was "mamma" and told Marcus, a.k.a. "dadda," to suck it because she obviously loved me more.  We even did a test to make sure she wasn't calling everyone "mamma" and instead was directing it towards me alone.  Because "mamma" usually occurred during a time of great stress for Alex (read: cranky) we tested her during one such moment.  As we sat at the dinner table, with Alex at my feet growing fussier and fussier by the minute, Marcus and I switched chairs to test her new found vocabulary.  As she pathetically tried to climb her way into Marcus's lap nothing sounding remotely like '"mamma" escaped her lips.  Then, we switched chairs again, and immediately "mamma" was being said over and over while the tears and frustration increased.  I didn't want to gloat at that exact moment because she was having such a traumatic time but "Ha!  In your face, Marcus!" are the exact words that came out of my mouth and which may or may not have been accompanied by a happy dance.

Later that evening another friend of ours stopped by and the four of us adults sat around as Alex entertained us (I'll be so sad when she becomes self-conscious and won't let us just sit there and stare at her for hours on end).  She babbled "mamma" as I happily reiterated the fact her first word was my "name."  Marcus, apparently growing frustrated by the lack of respect Alex was showing him, picked her up and said "Whatever.  Alex, say 'Hi, daddy...'"  *pause for emphasis*  ...and she did.  All four of us were shocked and our jaws dropped in disbelief.  "It can't be that easy," Jonas said as we all whipped out our camera phones and started video taping Alex hoping to recreate the moment.  "Say, 'Hi, daddy'" was parroted to Alex while she sat there giving us her notorious you-are-an-idiot-stare.  Needless to say we haven't heard "Hi, daddy" since that evening.

Two months later and Alex's vocabulary has expanded yet decreased at the same time.  "Mamma" is rarely heard while "dadda" can't be said enough.  She likes to sing what we call the "dadda" song and which basically consists of "dadda" over and over and over again in varying tones.  Even when I give her a bath and encourage her to say "mamma" she just smiles at me and says "da!"  *sigh*  While I might have won the first word battle it's clear "dadda" has won the war.

Finally, she has a third "word" which we just recently recognized as being a word.  "Keh" is quite clearly "kitty" and I can't believe we didn't figure that out sooner.  After 10 months you'd think you know someone and their language (in)ability.  Anyway, Alex points her finger (sort of...it's more of a five finger point with one finger extended just a little more than the others) at the kitty and says "keh" repeatedly and sometimes with such great emphasis she's spit on me in her zeal.  Typically, the saying of "keh" is coupled with a great desire to pet manhandle the "keh."  Unfortunately "keh" does not share the same affection for Alex and tends to get juuust out of her reach.  I'm actually very grateful that we have a "keh" because without her we might not realize that Alex is beginning to associate names with objects.  This all makes for truly exciting times in the household...well, maybe not as exciting as our festive New Year's Eve but that's a story for another day.

This is Alex from the "keh's" point of view.