Talking

Elise is starting to talk more.  She has been saying some version of dada or mama for awhile now and it sounds like she says it in reference to us.  We also noticed recently that when we say "up up" to pick her up, she will say "pup-pup" occasionally.  When I picked her up from her babysitter today, she and her daughter (my friend) said that Elise said "leche" two times, in reference to milk (in Spanish).  She even signed for "milk" so she knows what it means.

I'm not sure what really qualifies as a "first word".  Is it when they can say it on demand?  Because I've been trying to get her to say "leche" all night and she won't budge.

She's definitely processing language.  One day last week, when we showed her a "head and shoulders knees and toes" music video on youtube, she pointed to her head!  We were kind of freaking out!  Now she always points to her head when we say "head".  I think she's very close to knowing "nose".  She's gotten it once or twice, but most of the time, when I say "nose", she will have a deep concentrating look for 2 seconds, and then pat her head in delight.  She will also do this when I try to teach her new signs, and then she will always go back to signing for "milk". 


I've read that the best way for babies to learn how to talk is just to talk to them a lot.  This doesn't really come naturally to me so I have to be intentional about narrating her world to her.  The easiest way for me to do this is to take her to Target in the Ergo and explain all the different sights there.  She really loves it, especially going up and down the escalator.