First Words

Over the past couple of weeks, Simon's first words have emerged!

Its hard to pin down a single 'first word,' but we think these were the first two:
Mama, which sounds something like "muh-muh-muh-muh-muh-muh..."
Dada, which sounds like "da!" or "adaaa" or "da-t!"

They were quickly followed by these two:
Banana, which sounds like "nana" or "nan" or "na"
Teeth, which sounds like "th" or "ith"

In other developments:

• Our now-13-month-old is definitely in the thick of separation anxiety, which of course I know is developmentally an excellent sign, but at times is heartbreaking nonetheless!
• Related to this, he has also figured out resourceful ways to self-regulate, by becoming quite attached to his taggie blanket and his pacifier, in addition to his parents.
• He is learning his body parts, thanks to books, songs, and the entertainment we find in having him gleefully point to something we ask about. He can reliably show you his head, hair, ears, nose, teeth, toes, and slightly less reliably also his hands, feet, eyes, knees, and belly.
• He loves to play games that make adults laugh--his favorites are "SO BIG!" and also peek-a-boo, which is really entertaining to see because often he can't quite get the covering object (usually taggie, or sometimes a burp cloth or washcloth) to actually cover his face, so you just have to pretend that you can't see him even though the cloth is already behind his head.
• He is quite steady on his feet and occasionally will let go for a second and stand without holding on to anything--still not in a rush to be walking, which is just fine with us :). His speed-crawling serves him quite well.
• Turning one year old brought some major responsibility into Simon's life--he now has his first chore. He is responsible for putting napkins around the dinner table (with Mom's help, carrying him from plate to plate). He is quite good at it, and is just thrilled when he's done and is told what a good job he did with helping out! (This developed out of the way our evening usually progresses, where he's usually cranky enough by dinner time that he wants me holding him constantly so he is often riding on my hip as I set the table...we were planning to start chores/jobs early...just not quite this early!)