As both faithful readers know, we have two new twin granddaughters. Well, I got to wondering if they’d do things at the same time or which one would be “first” to accomplish a new task. I wonder which one will be the first to speak a recognizable word — and — what will that word be?
So that got me to wondering about babies first words… I’ve heard that the most common first word is some form of dad, like dada. I guess most moms and dads want the first word to be either dad or mom, or some variation of those — some think that the kid will be more devoted to the first parent they can name. Most babies usually say something that sounds closer to dad than mom first because the “d” sound is easier for them to say than the “m” sound.
My extensive research into this subject indicates that “no” is probably the most common word (outside of dada or mama.) Why is that? Because one of the primary roles of parents before kids can talk is to keep them from doing things they shouldn’t do, so kids here the word no a lot and babies tend to repeat the sounds/words they hear most often.
It’ll be interesting to see what Rory’s and Ellie’s first words will be. I don’t remember what Dave’s first word was, but think it may have been dada or something like that. I remember Kelly’s first clearly spoken word was clock. We had a grandfather’s clock and every time it chimed (4 times and hour), she said, “clock.” I think Locke’s first word was also something close to “dad.” Emily’s first word was “Iguana.” I have no idea what that means — except maybe that Emily has always operated outside the box…
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