It's only words

Before having Oliver I imagined that one day a word would pop out of our child's mouth in a clearly defined way. Wrong!

I am pretty sure Hayley would agree his first word was "Dadda", but he was making "Da" sounds long before it was clear he was talking about me. Nowadays it's pretty clear when he's talking to (or about) me: greeting me as I come home; standing at the bottom of the stairs shouting "Dad"; or hearing my voice on the phone and saying "Dadda". He even progressed to "Daddy" last night in the car. (Somewhat confusingly he says "Daaaaaaaaa" when he sees Thomas the Tank Engine.)

But he has started to add other words now too. They may not be easily decipherable to any but his parents but we at least can identify them.

When asked certain questions - usually about things he likes to do such as go for a shower or go out in the car - he will say "Yes".

Last night he stood at the top of the stairs looking down at me half-way down the stairs, waved and said "bye bye".

And as I mentioned previously he sings "row row" when we sing "Row row row your boat...." with him.

It's quite a revelation to hear these first words from him and it brings home the fact that he is growing and learning every single day at an incredible rate.

It also makes him even more adorable.