First Words

I figured that I should follow up the H1N1 post with some more positive news.

Sadie and Jack have been talking for a while now, but J. and I have debated what counts as the official first words. Both the kids said "Dada" pretty early on. "Dada" and "Mama" were followed by "Hi" and "Bye." The kids even went through a phase of being into the exclamations "Wow" and "Ut Oh." But I've always thought that a child's first word is really the first non-proper noun that they start using because it tells you about their personality. The first non-proper noun is a manifestation of what they find most fascinating - what they are eager to tell others about.

Sadie's first non-proper noun was "Bellybutton." Sadie loves her bellybutton. She loves to show it to people. She loves to check that it's still there. She loves to tell you about her "beh-beh," as she calls it. Sadie also now likes to point out "ki-cat," "das," and "ba-bies" (not to be confused with "beh-behs").

Jack has also become fascinated with his bellybutton, but he chooses not to verbalize his affection for it. We're still waiting for his first non-proper noun. Or at least, I'm still waiting for it.