Sweetest Sounds

From the time Peanut came into our lives I have felt that she is communicating with me.  As a wee babe she had a look in her eyes that said, "I've got a secret to tell you, as soon as I can, and it's a good one."  She still has a way of catching my eye across a room and bursting into a smile as if we just shared an unspoken understanding, and it was delightful and hilarious.  She lights up. 

But lately I am wondering if she really is telling me something.  She will wake up, and roll over and say, "Hi." It is a cute, drawn, out, squeaky baby hi, and if I say it back she will say it again, over and over.  It's just her playing with syllables--or is it? Because she will also crawl up to her brother, pull herself up too the table next to him, and say with great exuberance, "Hey!"  We parents like to flatter ourselves that a baby's first word would be Mama or Papa, but it makes sense that it would be "Hi."  For Peanut, it does, anyway, because I think she's been dying to say it since she laid eyes on us. 

And in the last week or so, there's this: Mama.  Now, I know babies at this age repeat sounds over and over and she does that with Ma ma ma ma and ba ba ba ba and da da da da.  But also if she's upset and I am out of the room, she will begin crawling towards me calling "Ma ma ma ma ma ma." And tonight when we were cuddling at bedtime and I started singing her little song (you can see it here, Butterfly by Lisa Loeb, but the song starts 1 min in), which I start by singing her name, she looked at me and said, "Maaa maaa" as if she was singing.  The best, though, was when I heard her in the monitor waking up a couple hours after being put to bed, breathing a little call to me, "Maaa maaaaa."  I almost raced to the bedroom to cuddle up with her, lest I turn into a puddle of goo before I get there.

I can't believe she is already starting to talk.  I forgot how heart meltingly sweet little baby utterances are.  I can't wait to hear what she has to say.  She is amazing.