Parents, what were your children’s first words? Others, do you know what yours were? My mom said mine was “mama” and my brother’s was the same, so I’m guessing it’s fairly common.
Secret reason behind this is to share what my little angel’s first words were today.
Whenever I give her something I always say “thank you” I suppose out of habit; I don’t even think about it anymore. Well today, very clearly she repeated my words. This is the first real words she’s spoken at sixteen months, and I’m just so tickled that of all the things she could say she says “thank you”. It’s so funny what brings a parents joy so huge it brings tears. It’s not like in a few years she won’t be saying all kinds of words, even words I am not so fond of.
"hot,"age approximately 9 months. We had a woodstove for heat and my parents cautioned me against touching it. So my first word was “hot,” shortly followed by mama and kitty.
My daughter’s were “Da Da” and then “Mama” which are typical. The reason parents got those names is because young children tend to say those sounds first and assign them to what is there.
The odd one was word #3: - “Alligator”. Here favorite book was about an alligator toy that became alive in a classroom and she really made an effort and said it very well before she was even one. It warms my Louisiana heart.
I was a very late talker. I could say the words, but I didn’t want to. Until I got full sentences down, I would point and grunt. I never did the baby talk thing, even as a very small one. I was quite non-verbal.
My first word, if you believe my mother (which I’m inclined to do), was “shit”. Then I went mostly silent until I walked up to my mom one day (I was four, I think) and said “what’s for lunch, mom?”.
Charlie’s first word was “Gog” about 7 mos or so. He meant “dog” specifically our black lab/border collie cross, Joe. I remember it clear as day. He was sitting in his high chair at the dinner table and Joe trotted through the dining room. Charlie leaned over to try to touch him and said, “Gog!” I said, “Who was that?” and he replied, “Gog!”
it was on an airplane…haha…we travelled a lot and I always heard “where do you want to eat?” so my understanding was that I picked up the end word…
Funny part: the FA on the plane kept thinking I was trying to get her attention to get food, and we ended up with a ton of peanuts and little snacks…ok, so maybe it’s not that funny, but I like the story…haha
According to Mom, my first word was “clock.” I have no idea how old I was, but I’m pretty sure the story is that I was referring to the chiming clock we had (and that she still has).
I don’t know what my first words were, but I didn’t start talking until I was three. (I talked before that but not regularly. My belief is that I knew how to talk, I just didn’t want or need to.) Anyone later than that?
My dad used to have this book full of hockey cards that I was fascinated with. My mom said that my dad would point out the players and read their names to me. For some reason I found the card of then-Montreal Canadiens player Guy Lafleur particularly interesting. I was told I would toddle around the house with the book, muttering, “Guy, Guy, Guy…”
I allegedly spoke “I want” at two years. (I suspect this is wrong. By my second birthday I had two younger sisters. I think my first words were, “What the hell is going on around here, Mom?”)
That’s quite interesting. I’d never thought about that before. I wonder if there’s any data on whether kids exposed to both will generally sign before they speak. Come to think of it, babies do tend to spend a lot of time playing with their hands and fingers, which is an equivalent to ‘baby talk’ I guess.
Our first daughter was a very late talker. We taught her a very cut-down sign language (search for “kindersigns” or “baby signs”). She had quite a vocabulary until the talking finally came. Saved us from many, many months of frustration - I don’t know how we would have coped without it.
