First Word
The fabulous "First Word" story. Many of us have heard these in our lives. As mothers we share them with friends, and children when we have children our parents may retell us the story of our first word, or in a teenage angst moment when you scream a word at your parents they may respond with something along the lines of "That has always been your favorite word."
My daughter's first word was intricate. We were driving home from her 1st year appointment, and she busted out with "Cracker." Now, maybe I am just wasn't paying close enough attention and never heard one syllable words she used; and I will admit that the babbling of mamama and dadada do not count as words when they are not directed to an individual. I will say that this has been who she has been ever since! She goes for the gold. Why do something small when you can go big?
My son...well, he chose to not talk until he was 2. He did have words, but they were never truly audible. We played what does that sound like until I started to learn sign-language just so we could understand him and get rid of the whining. Needless to say, when he did start talking, he just went straight to telling me what's what; sentences and demands.
My first word, well, it caused an interesting story. My parents both worked when I was little, and our neighbor babysat me. She was a nice lady with children in high school. Her husband's name was Bob. Everyday, when Bob came home, he came in the door like he was walking into Disneyland. He was happy to be there, to see us, and repeated his name. "Bob's home!" "Hey you, it's Bob!" "Bob is happy to see you." And so, when I came along to starting to identify these sounds to people, Bob came out of my mouth. It started when Bob came home. And then repeated when my mom came to pick me up. I said it again. And then we got back to our house where I repeated it and looked around.
When my mom told the story to me she said that my dad sat up with me that night trying to get me to say Dada. And that I would just repeat Bob. As a baby I was getting a reaction to the word I was using. Kind of like when a child learns they have power when they learn the word no. There is a reaction to using the word, and so they continue to use it.
As with most babies, first words are just the start. However, this is the story I know, there are no stories of second and third words. The shock and awe of speaking is over by then. Words are powerful things, they give us the power of sharing our ideas, our emotions, our states of minds, our desires and passions. Words are important, and the first word is merely the beginning of us taking on a new step of participating in our own lives.
