First Word!! Or Was It?

When N was first born I must admit I was almost in a bit of a rush for him to do everything.

Grabbing my finger (in about the first day or so).

Turning over (front to back was very quick, in the first month I think – back to front took longer).

First time of crawling (he’s done it in nursery but not at home! Cheeky monkey!).

I think this is true of a lot of parents.

In fact, one parent said to me before N was born that you never want your child at the age they are, you always want them older (or sometimes younger).

I think this is true.

Until recently…

Chilling Out

Recently I stopped caring about when he did this or that as long as he wasn’t severely behind.

If he didn’t speak for a long time then I’d be a bit concerned and look for help, for example.

Stopping worrying about how quickly he did things felt like a weight had been lifted in a weird way. When you stop the ‘race to first’ and just accept things will be done when they are done you almost live in the moment more.

You enjoy just playing rather than trying to help your baby progress as quickly as possible.

It’s a much better way of life isn’t it?

Of course. You still help them and give them room to develop though and experiences for them to learn, but you don’t worry about them learning. They will pick things up at their own pace.

What’s A First Word?

This is a debate I and Clare have had recently. At what point do you call a word a word?

Is it when you just hear the sound?

For us, no. He has been making the sound “hiya” for a little while but we haven’t counted this as he doesn’t know what it means and isn’t using it in the right context.

We think he first word is when he understands what it means and uses it correctly.

This isn’t easy to spot still though! When he says a word at what point does he know what it means?

His First Word?

It’s quite hard to tell when he understands a word, but we are wondering whether his first word is….

DADDY!!

Oh goodness me!

Did he understand what it meant though?

He has said it a few times.

On one occasion he wasn’t saying any words, I then walked into the room and started changing his nappy. At this time he looked at me and said “Daddy”.

Another time he was having his lunch, looked at me and said “Daddy” again.

However, he was getting his nappy changed by Clare and said “Daddy” too. As such, did he know what it meant when he said it? Was he asking for me when he said it to Clare?

Who knows! I never really appreciated how difficult it would be to determine what his first word was. I thought before having him that it would be really obvious but I’m not so sure it is!

So maybe his first word is “Daddy”, but maybe not, depends on your definition and what happens at the time. We are counting it though! Yay!

He has now started saying mumumumum and Dada too. Clever little boy!

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