First Words

Kurt read somewhere that first words are supposedly things that they have an emotional attachment to. Johnny's first word used in context was "Uh-oh." The next one was "shoe" and "toothpaste" wasn't far behind. "Toothpaste" (or "tissue" as it sounds) is as a result of us having morning pee and toothbrush time together on the toilet, so it could be that one has an emotional attachment.

"Dada" now means Dad, Inja, all dogs in fact, and just about everybody else, including Mom, unless I really press him to call me Mama, in which case he usually only relents if he Realy Truly wants me to pick him up. "Da" is of course a cover-all for "What's this?" and "Gimme that" and "Oh hey look over there."

His most commonly used word is "Nana" - banana - which he primarily uses when he wants to nurse, but which he now uses for all food. He shouted it at me yesterday when I deigned to drink off the juice from his tub of pineapples.

He uses other words, too, like "mmmmm" and "ooooh" (which his Granny taught him), but for the most part he is quite content with "da," "shoe," "uh-oh," "toothpaste" and "nana." It's amazing how far you can get with 5 words and a little latitude with their meaning. He knows and understands several dozen words, but shows no inclination to mimic them even though he's capable of making those sounds. I mean, why bother saying "nose" when "da" and pointing will do?