Summer's First Word

There is one good thing about having a rather large, possibly dangerous, mole in the center of my chest for everyone to see: Summer loves it. When I hold her , she points at it with both index fingers and babbles. A few days ago, I started calling it “mommy’s dot.”

When I was browsing in a store, Summer starting pointing to the mole and saying “ba ba ba ba.” I starting saying “dot” over and over again. She looked at me and then started saying “duh duh duh.” Hmm…

This morning, when I woke up, I showed her the mole and pointed to it. She pointed to it too, and said, “duh duh duh duh.” (The sounds were sharp and staccato – it didn’t sound like she was suggesting I was dumb, by the way.) I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I really wanted her to have made some progress in the language area. I was totally excited.

Later this morning, I picked her up and she pointed to my mole and said “dot.” In a very baby-ish way, but it was there. I was thrilled. So was Nathaniel. We danced and hopped around like idiots.

So this is why I think “dot” is Summer’s first word. Knowing her, I probably won’t hear it again for a long time, but I had to document it.

By the way, after hearing Summer say “dot,” I flipped through What to Expect The First Year to see if it’s really possible that an 8 ½ month old baby would say something (very unlikely, according to the authors, so I’m probably making the whole thing up). A section on toilet training caught my eyes, and I couldn’t help but share this gem with you guys:

“Children are great imitators, particularly of people they look up to. So instead of barring baby from the bathroom while you use the toilet, invite him in for a live demonstration, accompanied by a running commentary on the goings-on.”

This coming from the same people who eschew the word “poo” in favor of the more delicate “doo doo,” presumably to avoid offending their gentle readers.