Baby talk

At the baby's 12 month checkup, the doctor said he should be saying some solid words like "mama" and "dada." Well we don't refer to ourselves in those terms per se. We say "mama" (emphasis on the 2nd "ma" which is different from a flat "mama" - sans emphasis on either...VERY important to distinguish because the second version actually means grandma...my husband's mom. I can't have the baby confuse us so I choose to have him call me mommy) and ba ba for dada. He doesn't say either. He babbles and repeated me when I asked him if he made a "see see" =poop. He screams a whole ton too. But no mommy or baba. 

So we're told that we should encourage him by talking to him a lot more. So no more baby talk! I try to "talk" to him without feeling like a complete asshole. Even in the privacy of my own home. It's actually kind of fun because the whole thing seems ridiculous. So I can say stuff to him like "hey Ethan! Let's go stomp around like elephants while we wiggle our butts to the hot dog song!" Yes...I can say things like that, and although I'm getting strange looks from big people, I'm making Ethan laugh. So who cares! Ahhhh the innocence of being a kid! By the way, he loves the hot dog song and he gets a crack out of me wiggling my butt at him. Not inappropriate!