Be careful what you wish for

“Mam! Ma-am!  Mahm!  MO! MO! MOM!”  Well, I think it’s safe to say he’s grasped the concept of “mom” and how and when to scream it.  This is the soundtrack of my life right now.  

It stared late last week when I was doing the dishes.  I had Kendall blocked into the living room by the couch, ottoman, and some strategically placed chairs and yoga ball (that thing just continues to be useful).  He could see me over the bar, and would occasionally scream or grunt in my direction if I happened to make eye contact with him when he was not otherwise occupied by a curtain or the laundry basket.  I made it a point to ignore him, despite his increasing frustration with me and obvious boredom with the sea of mundane toys I scattered about to entertain him.  Clearly, he wanted out so he could come into the kitchen, climb into the dishwasher and suck on all the dirty dishes, but I was washing a cheese grater and knives this time around so that wasn’t going to fly.

All of the sudden, I was startled from my scrub, rinse, load trance by a sound I had never heard before.  It was so forceful, so purposeful, so loud, so undeniably the sound of my son screaming “MOM!” for the very first time.  I looked up in disbelief and then did what I probably wasn’t supposed to do in that situation.  I smiled, laughed, jumped up and down, and ran over and gave him a big hug.  I mean, this was huge!  I had never really even heard him babble any mmm sounds, and there he just busts out the most perfect, grown up sounding word he has ever managed to eek out.  We had a little celebration right there in the living room, and I put off finishing the dishes for the rest of the afternoon.

Obviously delighted by the response he got from me, he’s continued, and continued, and continued, to practice this word…over, and over, and over.  Anytime I step away from him he starts in on the rapid fire succession of “moms”.  He mixes it up with different intonations, various tones and volume levels.  If I’m standing, he crawls behind me, and hits the back of my legs, “Mahm…mom…MOhm…MAM..MOM!”  Each and every one of them a plea for something, not at all like the “Dah DA Dada!” noises he makes when he’s happy.  “Dada” never sounds like “feed me!” or “I want to chew on that cord you just took away!”  My mom said it best when she told me yesterday that “mom” might as well mean “I want”, “I need”,  “I’m tired”, “I’m sick”.

Ahhh…but it’s still delightful to hear.  Honestly, at this point I’ll take it any day over the screaming and grunting.  

Kendall is 11 months and 5 days old

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