Here's the thing though....she's actually been doing this since she was around 2 or 3 months old. She just didn't know it. But she went through this thing when every time she was hungry or upset she would make a lot of "m" noises and sometimes "momma" would sneak out. We really noticed it on the way home from the doctor's office after her 3 month checkup...she was NOT (I repeat, NOT) happy with the nurse and the shots she administered. She screamed the whole way home (luckily it's about 2 miles away) and most of what she was screaming sounded like "momma". But I don't count that as her first words because it never seemed like she knew what she was saying and it was never consistent...it was an accident because she was making "m" sounds.
However, yesterday she knew what was going on and said it not once but ALL day. I was playing a lot of peek-a-boo that morning on the changing table where I usually say "where's Momma?" or "where's Shaylyn?" and hide on the side of the table. We play this game a lot, she gets real excited about it. She's so funny about it because she knows what I'm doing but pretends to not look for me and looks straight up at the ceiling while smiling and kicking like crazy....until she can't stand it anymore and tries to look for me. While I was changing her clothes after that (which is not her favorite game) she starts whining and says "mamamamama." Although she hasn't done it in a while, I didn't really think too much of it and when she stopped I looked at her and said it back to her. She looked at me for a minute then started back up again...."mamamama." It made me giggle a lot. Then she proceeded to do it all morning, but the second I would get my phone out to record it she would stop. Rascal. Later that morning we were Skyping with my mom and before I could even tell her what she had been doing she was saying it over and over again.
She has been imitating a lot of things lately. This weekend Chad was making a smack noise with his mouth and she started doing it too. (She still does it when you do it to her.) She studies your mouth SO hard when you're talking to her. This makes me so excited! Well and nervous. She's so interested in communicating and is always looking at us like she's soaking everything up. Which also got me thinking about something else.....since she seems so interested, I'm starting a few signs with her. (Started "officially" today!) I don't know enough myself to really teach her a lot, but I would love to teach her some basic ones that will help us communicate with her over the next few years. "more" "milk" "finished/all done" "eat" are the ones I'm starting with. We'll see how it goes to see what we do from here...I'm not going to push it, just see how she responds.
Here she is yesterday (you can hear MeMe in the background on Skype) .....
And here she is today when I put her down for a nap....I also heard this on the monitor at 2:30am this morning. I can't think of a better way to wake up in the middle of the night! :)
Do I think she knows who "momma" is? Mah, not really. Do I think she's calling for me when she says it? Mah, not really. But we're working on those things. I do know that she can see someone say it and knows how to repeat it now. I think she knows when she says it I will come...because I'm making a point of that every time she says it. At least for now...I want her to know who Momma is! Then I pick her up and say "Momma's here." She definitely knows her own name because she turns and responds to it when someone calls her...so I don't think it'll be too long before she knows what our names are too. Yesterday when she said it, it was always when she needed something.....hungry, tired, or just generally pissed off. Today she said it a few times when we were just playing together and I would say it to her (and also every time she was mad). My mom is completely convinced that she does know what she's saying and who her "momma" is. Maybe I'm cutting Shaylyn short? Either way, I'll take it...because really, it's just too damn cute to matter.
xo,
Shay's Momma :)
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