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First words are just the tip of the iceberg
From the family room I heard "OH MY! I can't believe it! He missed it."
I was visiting my parents with my 9-month-old son, Owen. Everyone was in the other room and again I heard, "OH MAN! He missed it again!"
Everyone was groaning in amazement. I ran into the room.
"What happened?" I said.
"Owen just said 'Daddy!'" my mom said.
"He said 'Dada' and then he said 'Daddy,'" said my dad.
I looked to my wife.
"Yup, he did," she confirmed.
These were his first words. He said dada again the next day. Once again, I was out of the room. I wasn't insulted. It made sense-that he would call for me in my absence. But I wanted to hear it! So, I sat him down for a talk.
"Could I hear you say my name?" I asked. "I'd love to hear it and everyone else has: Mommy, Aunt Amy, Grandma and Grandpa..."
He just stared at me with his big blue eyes.
"You could just whisper it to me," I said pulling him closer.
He decided the appropriate response would be to grab my nose. I was disappointed and he noticed. He flashed his four-tooth smile.
"Well, I do have some things I would like to discuss," he said, "action items, if you will."
I was flabbergasted.
"Like what?" I asked.
"I like the banana baby food, but I prefer it warm," he started. "Grandma prepares it that way for me and I feel it really brings the fullness of the banana experience more completely to the palate, especially when competing with the taste of green beans or carrots. And would you please warn me when you mix my vitamins in with my food? It's not a pleasant surprise."
"Wow!" I said. "How come you didn't mention these things before?"
"I tried dictating this to Grandma while we sat at the computer the other day but she thought my dictation was so cute that she wanted to play," he said. "After rolling around on the carpet for a while we both forgot about the e-mail altogether."
"You should use the baby sign language that we've been teaching you," I said.
He sighed.
"Do you realize how many different ways you and Mommy have of waving hello? Plus, I barely have control over these hands at this stage," he said. "I am just happy that I can prevent my bottle from falling into my face!"
"I see. Well, I am glad we had this little talk. I am taking a lot away from it," I said, making notes in my smartphone.
"Now, could I just hear you say Daddy?"
His eyes locked on the phone's bright screen.
"Ba! BA! He yelled diving for the phone. "BA!BAH," he yelled again bringing it to his mouth.
Then his Mommy walked into the room.
"Did you say ba ba?" she asked picking him up. "Would you like your bottle?"
He cooed in approval as they headed for the kitchen.
"Get to hear him say 'Dada' yet?" she asked.
"No...," I groaned.
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