Look who's talking...

[mightymulhern]

Well we waited for this day to come for a long time. Around 3 months old, Sydney started baby-talking and has baby talked our legs every day since.

This week Meghan swore that Sydney had said "up" a few times when she went to get her out of her car seat. I shrugged it off because we've thought we heard words before in her baby talk. (You could also read this - Desperately wanted to hear words in her baby talk to understand what she's thinking.) Well I heard it today, clear as clear can be. Sydney was on the play mat, reached for me, looked me in the eye, and in a tiny little voice said "up". This wasn't the silly baby talk voice, it was a serious, tiny little girl voice. She was silent, said "up", and then was silent.

We also think we heard "uh-oh". I only about half heard it because I wasn't paying attention and it wasn't at a point when uh-oh was appropriate. Meghan says she has heard uh-oh a few times though.

I suppose it was going to be a toss up between "up", "uh oh", "hi", and "hello". We've been saying "up" to her when reaching for her (and she reaches for us) since she was 3 months old. "uh oh" and "hello" have been close to some of her baby talk at times so we've tried to coax her to say those. Mostly we've been working on "hi" though because it's easy. Interesting that the first word was the one we used in conjunction with an action for so long.

[mightymulhern]

Maybe we "spoke" too soon. Not a single word after that weekend when I announced she was saying "up" and "uh oh".

[Mom&DadMulhern]

No, I'm sure you did hear her say those things. Babies are very coy. Sometimes they say things and then look at you to see your reaction. It's probably too soon to expect much in the way of real talking, but Sydney will definitely start to mimic your actions and words. Soon she will start to really understand what they mean, and say them at appropriate times. My boss's wife is a children's speech therapist. She said you should never tell your child to "say..." She said as soon as you use the word 'say' kids will clam up just to be stubborn. Sydney will pick up so much at school from the older kids. One day, she may come home and just blurt something out. Every day is an adventure with a little one. Enjoy them.

Love,
Mom

[mightymulhern]

Clearly she's just being defiant. We'll just have to beat it out of her. Yeah right.

We're more than a little guilty of the "Say ___" thing. ....very very guilty. I suppose we should nip that in the bud.

On the plus side, Sydney clearly recognizes the word "Yay". If you say it she usually grins really big and starts clapping.