"Adoo"

I don't know if a "first word" counts if it's not really a word, but I'm pouncing on it and labeling it "a word."

Adam has started saying "adoo." We don't know for sure what it means, but I'm starting to get a hunch. Everyone is "adoo." He points at Daddy. Adoo. Caley. Adoo. The mirror. Adoo. He says "adoo" to his toys. He said it while he was talking to himself in his crib last night. I swear he even said it in his sleep at 4:30 this morning.

Then I started to realize that he might be trying to say his name. Why wouldn't he? It's by far the most often used word in our house. It's at the beginning or end of nearly every sentence. I blush to think that my son's first word might be his own name. We're working on "Mom," which he has said but only because he's ticked off at something (usually recent breathing treatments or the sight of a bottle that did not go directly into his mouth at his initial desire) and "Daddy," which, when we say it, earns us a smile if we're lucky.

This morning he saw Eli, smiled, and said "ah-ah!"
I said: "Eli. That's Eli."
Adam said: "Adoo."

So for right now, everyone and everything in our house is "adoo."

His other new trick is waving. When he's carried into a room he raises his hand straight up in the air, smiles, and surveys his audience. It's a little like, "I'm here! I'm here, everybody!" When someone else walks into the room he does the same. And when he sees my dad, he does it every time. His waves (basically sticking his hand straight up) at my dad are big waves, for a long time, and usually on tip toes (if he's standing). I think that's where he learned the wave, so he wants to do it just right when he sees Grandpa.

Adam is also, for lack of a better word, popular at daycare (well, everywhere, but I'm referring specifically to interacting with babies around his age). When I picked him up today he was standing at a toy and had two of his friends standing and playing with him, like he was the ring leader. These two little boys, who over the age of 1 and are about Adam's height (not a typo - Adam is the height of a typical 14 month old) are consistently around him when I am there, and despite the 4 -5 month old age difference (which is quite a bit at that age, if you think about it), Adam seemed like he was in charge. But Adam isn't cliquish (if it's possible to be so at almost 9 months), and he does play with the one little 11 month old girl who is there (as he is just slightly bigger and just slightly more advanced than she).

And on a final note, I think it's hilarious how every child from the moment they can speak is able and extremely happy to point out "BABY!" even if they are "babies" themselves. We have passed a two year-old (or three) in the grocery store who immediately point at Adam and squeal "baby!" When I took him to Kroger yesterday, a father was shopping with his blonde, curly haired little girl with pink glasses, who had to be about 3, and she was helping him organize his groceries while she sat in the cart. When Adam and I walked by, she stopped long enough to put her arm up, wave at Adam and say loudly, "HI BABY!"

Adam didn't quite know what to do, but I smiled at her and waved and continued on my way, and Adam leaned his head all the way around me to watch her all the way down the long aisle. He does love the ladies.