Dear Zach,

You said your first word today.  Well… your first ‘official’ word.

You’ve been saying “mom” and “mama” for a few weeks now.  But we haven’t been quite sure that it’s not just babbling.  Today, though, you definitely knew what you were saying.

You and mom were doing the daily routine of watching some Sesame Street on the computer while eating breakfast.  At the end of one video, a picture of Elmo popped up.  You always get excited to watch the Elmo videos.  And today, when he showed up you actually said, “Elmo”.  Mom told me, but I didn’t believe it.  So we got out the old Elmo doll Auntie Cyndi had given to you a few days before.  You played with it for a minute, then stopped, looked at it and clear as day said “Elmo” again.

Zach with his circa-1996 Tickle Me Elmo from Auntie Cyndi

Not only did you say the word, but you knew what it meant and used it in the right context.  Cool!  But if you could work on saying “daddy” before learning the names of any more television monsters, that would be great. 

Love,
Dad