I fear we've hit the terrible twos before B is even one and he is already rebelling. It is clear his only reason for excluding this one precious word from his blossoming vocabulary is to hurt me. It is working. I suppose it's preparing me for the emotional shock I'll experience the first time he brings a girl home or if he ever dares to tell me he is proposing to some lesser woman for whom I'll be forced to feign tolerance.
Just to prove to myself that it's not all in my head, I Googled. Turns out that by 11 months, which B will be tomorrow, most kids refer to their parents as mama and dada. A few kids can say one other word. B's vocabulary certainly exceeds one word and as I've mentioned, not one of these is MAMA. (Although I base it on no facts I suspect that kids are actually saying words before some parents recognize them so this stat about saying other words may be flawed but that doesn't change my point.)
He definitely can make the mmm sound and he definitely knows who mama is. If you ask him where is mama he will point to me and smile devlishly (because he knows I want him to say it!). He will also point to me when you ask about 'mom', and 'mommy'.
He can say mmmm. He knows I am called mama. He says several other words. He can do this, he just won't.
Here are some of the non-mama words B has uttered to further drive a stake in my heart.
duck
cat
dog
that
ball
byebye
angel (I have witnesses)
Just to really stoke my fury, he even said "Uncle Chad". And so begins a lifetime of doing things just to get under my skin.
 |
| Undeterred. With reinforcement like this it's no wonder a lot of guys grow up to be crappy boyfriends. |
Haha. Papai was Lucas's second or third word, but he didn't say Mamae until much later - maybe two months after his first word?? Either it's not unusual or Lucas and Bennett are two peas in a pod. I was pretty unfazed by it, though - I took the long term view that he'll be yelling my name for the next 50+ years, so what's a month or two at the beginning. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping he learns to say Dada at night when he cries and Mama all day. I'm pretty sure they are two peas in a pod regardless :) We need to plan a trip to see you guys!
DeleteFear not, and Bianca makes a valid point. Once he learns to say Mama, he will never stop until he moves out. And perhaps not even then, LOL. Mama has evolved into Mom, Ma, or Mother, but STILL is uttered NONSTOP in my house. As long as he lets you know with his actions that you are the center of his universe, all is well.:-)
Delete