When will she?

How will I know when my kid starts to talk? I mean...when do you write it down in the baby book that she says her first word?

Let me back up. I had this issue with a few other "milestones" too.

• When did she start sitting up? Did she have to sit there endlessly while she played with her toys or did she just have to toddle there for a few moments and not fall over?


• When did she take her first step? When she made it from the ottoman to the couch? When she went from the couch to the dining room chair?


• When did she cut her first tooth? When she put my finger in her mouth to gnaw on it and I felt the little pokies? Or when you could actually see the thing?

I know. I should be so very thankful that I have these little milestones to write about. How many people out there aren't even blessed with having children? How many will never know about writing things down in baby books (or not writing and just filling in dates months later)? I might sound ridiculous but so be it. It's my blog.

Back to the first word. About two months ago Allyson started saying "mamamamama" when she wanted out of her crib. I loved it - thinking - is Momma going to be her first word? Well....that didn't last long. Momma soon went away and gibberish came back. Lately she's been discovering the wave and the words for bye-bye. My kid doesn't ever do anything on command so she has to be in the mood, but she will wave at someone who waves bye to her and will say "buh bwa." Sounds pretty good for an eleven month old. Is this her first word? Was Momma a few months ago? When will she start adding more to her repertoire?

I'm really not pushing her or concerned about this - really. She's going to do things on her own time, but you know how it is. You play this game with other Mom's. "My kid walked at 6 months old." "My kid said 'hello' at nine months." "My kid did advanced differential equations at 14 months." HA! When did my kid do this stuff?

Maybe it's my fault. Allyson - your Mom is a realist. Sometimes your Dad calls me a pessimist - tells me my glass has a tendency to be half empty. But, really, I'm a realist. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I don't toot my horn all that often, I won't lie about my kid's special talents. She's done a few things early, others right on time. I'll never make something up to make her sound more advanced than she really is. Maybe that makes me a bad mom...I dunno. Allyson will talk when she's good and ready. I'll be sure to let you know what she's saying.

At the end of the day, Allyson continues to amaze me. I walk in the door after work and she grins ear to ear. We play with the dogs on the floor and she giggles with delight. I set off all the Christmas decorations that make noise and we dance and laugh. Those are the things that I think are important to remember. Those are the things to write down in the baby book - or journal - or blog. Aren't they?

~Becky