… or is it? Yesterday, I woke up early in the morning around 5.30am to nurse my baby Clarisse. I went to the bath room after that and when I came back in to the room, I heard baby Clarisse saying “Ma…Ma…” as soon as she saw me walk through the door. She had been making similar sounds for more than 2 weeks but that morning, it really sounded like she’s calling me Mama. So I’m not sure if she’s really calling out to me or just making some random sound. Anyway, I was very delighted to hear something which sounded so close to that heart-melting word, I gave her a hug. She smiled back at me. She never did call me ‘Mama’ ever since though. Bummer!

My baby Clarisse started to vocalize for more than a few weeks now. She seems particularly fond of the sound “Mam..mam…mam…mam…” and she keeps repeating it when she’s in the mood to talk. She’s making sounds that has no meaning to it. On the other hand, she may also be calling for me, her mommy, so it’s impossible to tell if she’s simply making meaningless voices or learning to call out to someone. But at least I know she is vocalizing and attempting to imitate sounds she hear.

According to baby Clarisse’s paediatrician, babies mean what the say at around 10 to 14 months of age. As usual, mileage varies with some children starting to talk a couple of months earlier while others may have to reach 1 1/2 years old to say meaningful words.

Your baby might also be busy learning how to crawl or walk. If she is physically active, learning to vocalize may take a back seat. They may be slow to vocalize but that doesn’t mean their language skills is not developing. From birth, babies start to learn and understand what is said by mommy and daddy. Then, slowly they’ll sort out individual words from sentences. You’ll know she recognise a word when the day comes you call her name and she turns around. From then on, she’ll start to understand names of other people and objects. Further down the road, babies will recognise short phrases like “Say hi to grandma” or “Wave good-bye” or “Drink milk”. Your baby’s ability to comprehend receptive language development is a pre-requisite to meaningful speech.

Well anyway, I’m glad baby Clarisse finds “ma … ma … ma …” the easier consonant to pronounce. It might indicate that when she is mature enough to mean what she says, her first word is going to be “Mama”! I hope.