Mira has words

In regards to yesterday's post by Brian, a demonstration of Mira's linguistic capabilities:

Mira has 3 words now: Mama, Dada, and Baby. She also makes some sound effects, like Boom (said when something falls over) and Vroom (said while playing with toy vehicles). Several months ago, she was saying Cat and Dog (or something very close), but she seems to have lost those over time.

I admit, I can't wait for her to learn to talk. Mostly, so that she can tell me what she wants rather than me guessing at her gesturing. Granted, she's really good with gestures, so I'm able to guess correctly most of the time. But sometimes I just can't understand what she wants and then she gets frustrated. She has also gotten into a bad habit of whining when she wants attention. So whenever she comes up to me and whines I say, "No whining. If you want my attention, say 'mama'." That usually works and also prompts her to use her words.

She's not much for verbal "play", meaning she's not a babbler and doesn't tend to try to mimic sounds that she hears. As a result, several of her friends who are the same age or younger already have vocabularies of 10-20 words. I'm not worried at all about her being a little behind in this department, though. It's clear that her hearing and comprehension are excellent because she responds physically and appropriately when spoken to, she listens and can follow directions. I think this may just be another manifestation of her being a cautious person. For example, when she was learning to walk, she had the balance and muscle to be able to walk a month before she actually did, but she wanted to be sure she could do it before she tried. I think this is another case of wanting to be sure she can do it before she tries. Apparently, late speech runs on my mom's side of the family, too. Supposedly, my mom started talking late, but her first "word" was an entire sentence. Maybe Mira will be the same way: getting started late, but once she does start, taking off running.