Watching my baby reach her milestones is thrilling, especially the imminent uttering of her first words. To prep Quinn for this moment to say “my name” first, I’ve been speaking in third person, pointing in the mirror or at pictures letting her know I am Mama. When I use the American Sign Language sign for mother and say “mama,” she often smiles as though she knows what I am saying. So when she started babbling, I just knew Quinn was going to be an anomaly and in her high pitch voice bellow out that sweet sound I’ve been longing to hear, “Mama.”
Sadly, all of my hard work hasn’t paid off yet, and Quinn has decided to follow the masses of babies who follow tradition driving mommies around the world nuts with the easier phonetic sound “da da da da da da.” Every day all day it’s “da da da da da da da da.” I grimace trying to put on a real smile and encourage her since I know at this stage it is indiscriminate, and she is just trying out sounds. Of course, I am grateful that Quinn has such a wonderful, loving and present father who is her sole caretaker when I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it’s hard sometimes to not cajole her into saying “ma ma ma ma ma ma” instead of “da da da da da da.”
Yesterday, she started saying “na na na na na,” which her Nana will be proud to hear, so “mama” should be on the way soon. As much as I want her to say my name, I have a feeling that there may come a time when I may be driven nuts because Quinn won’t stop saying, “mama, mama, mama.” Regardless, I can’t wait!
All the best,
Tanya
Journey of Anonomz 
She will do it! I was convinced Jude would never learn to roll over. Like ever! I thought he’d walk first!! She will say it, and then one day, years from now, she’ll say it so many times that you’ll say, “Quinn, please!!!” and then you’ll laugh and remember how much you worried about her NOT saying it.
She is so precious.
Thanks for the pep talk Gina! I’m sure you’re right about me saying, “Quinn, please!” for calling my name so frequently when she gets older. She’s growing so quickly and will be walking and talking in a blink of an eye 😉
I actually chuckled when I read this. My Gem says many words now. The two most frequent ones are “cow” and “Mami, mami, mami!” The time will come before you know it. 🙂
You are right. The time will be here before I know it 😉