First Words

I do not recall my first words, though to be fair I don't recall much before the age of eight. I will have to ask my parents, there's a chance they would still remember, or maybe have written it down. My brother-in-law is a pilot and travels quite a bit, so when one of my nephews was starting to talk his first word was Mexico ("meh-he-ko") because that's where dad was. Pretty unique first word!

Hugh is a week over thirteen months and is starting to say a few things. Not just gibberish, though there is still a lot of that too, but certain items or sounds get his attention and he makes the same sound each time. Top five time! I have been claiming "da-da" for a couple months now, and while the window, blue car, other men and the TV sometimes get a "da-da" too, I'm pretty sure a majority are for me : ) "Ma-ma" is coming out quite often now too, much to Jess' liking.

"Woof-woof" is declared when he sees a dog (or stuffed animal that's nearly his size) or hears a dog barking, which is just about every day from our back yard. Melvin the Foxhound's toenails clickity-clacking on the floors also elicit "woof-woof." There is a wall decoration shaped like a lion in his room that he's taken to roaring at, our trained response to the question, "O que o leao fala?" (Portuguese -->English: "What does the lion say?"). Though the growling has also been an expression used at the dinner table (even on non-antelope nights) and to greet company. I think by far his favorite sound is made to round-shaped objects to which he exclaims "baaah" (Hugh --> English: "ball"). Definitely toy balls of any shape (like the oblong america football) or size (including my bowling ball that weighs 3/5 of him), but even the moon got a "baaah" tonight. Who knows, he might be able to play with that one during his lifetime! (If he learns a few more words first . . .  : )