what's a word?

People often ask me if Monroe is talking yet, and don't really know what to say. She IS communicating and some of her sounds are very close to words. It all depends on your definition of "words" and "talking." Here are Monroe's most common verbal productions, described in chronological order of first appearance. You can decide which, if any, are "talking" from your point of view.

1) "huh huh huh huh"
This is the oldest word-like sound in Roe's vocabulary. For months, she has used "huh huh huh" (in an urgent tone with reaching or other pleading gestures) to show that she is hungry. It is not a "word" in the traditional sense, but it functions as a word within our family in that it communicates a concept from her mind to mine.

2. "la la la"
This began at the Family Reunion when Monroe was playing with her cousin Elizabeth & her Grandma Nikki. They were singing fun songs with her, including one that said "la la la." When they got to the "la la la" part, Monroe joined right in! Since then, she's continued this and really got a kick out of her MaMai's version of "The Wheels on the Bus" in which every other verse is "the babies on the bus go la la la." It is really cute when she sings along because she often sticks her tongue all the way out of her mouth to make the L sound. This is also not a word in traditional sense, but it allows her to participate in singing with all different people in different contexts, and in that way has a very word-like quality.

3. "arw arfw"
This is the sound Monroe consistently makes anytime she sees a dog. I am not sure where it comes from. She does have a picture book in which dogs say "bow wow wow" and "arf" but we never said it when we saw dogs (until we noticed hew consistently she was doing it. Then we joined in.) Her arfing rose to a word-like level when she was out on a walk with my mother and they passed a friendly pooch. Monroe piped up with"awrf arf" and the dogs owner casually replied, "yep, it is an arf arf dog." So this sound functions as a word because it allowed her to communicate quite clearly with a perfect stranger.

4. "ma ma"
Monroe has been babbling with the syllables "ma" and "da" for some time, without us making much of it. But lately she has seemed to use the right word around the right person more and more often. So I started hamming it up, theatrically calling attention to myself when she said "ma ma," even popping in from the next room when she said it, as if she had been calling for me. Well, last week when her babysitter brought her home from a long afternoon at the park, and when I poked my head around the corner to see her, she looked me right in they eye and said, "Ma Ma!" I smiled and said, "I'm right here" and she stretched out her hand to me and repeated, "ma ma." It was so cute. Eben says this was her "first word" and I guess it does most fully meet the definition.