"Hi, Dada!"

So, I let Maya stay up a little late because she was in a great mood and it's the weekend. Pete and his friend Travis were in the living room playing the Wii, and Maya and I were sitting on the other couch playing with her phone. She loves it when I ring the phone, and pick it up and start talking to someone. Then, I tell her "It's for you!" I did this same thing, and told her to say "hi." She said hi loud and clear. Pete said he wasn't counting it as her first official word, since she didn't really know what she was saying, and it was was probably an accident. Then, she said it again about 5 seconds later. When I told her to say Hi to Pete, she said hi and waved! I'd been practicing waving during hellos and goodbyes, and she sorta kinda did it, but not really. She kept saying hi and waving and Pete and Travis. Then, I told her to say "hi Dada" and she DID! She'd said Dada and Mama before, but we weren't really sure if they counted as first words because she said them so arbitrarily, and never really addressed either of us specifically. I couldn't believe that she not only said hi and understood what she was saying, but she quite clearly said "hi Dada" perfectly several times while waving at Pete. Two words strung together! My nine month old daughter is a genius.

I'm so giddy I could just giggle! My insides are aflutter.

Of course I got the camera out and tried capturing the moment, but she totally knows what the camera is and got all silent when she heard it turn on. I wish there was a way to silence the stupid thing so I can sneak up on her with a little candid camera. Oh, well. I'm sure she'll say hi to you all when you see her at Christmas. Yay!