Isabella's first real word

Isabella has been saying 'mama' and 'papa' along with the other usual first sounds babies make like dada, nana etc. Sometimes she'll say mamma to me but sometimes she'll also say pappa to me whether she's just making sounds or really asking me where her pappa is. So it's not been clear whether she really are saying these sounds and understanding their meaning.

But yesterday it was really clear that she knew the cat is called 'kat' in Afrikaans and was saying 'ka-ka' over and over when we saw the cat in the garden and again when it came in while she was having her dinner. You have to listen carefully in the video as she only whispers it.

Eerste regte woordjie: kat 14/15 Augustus 2014 from Anneliese Mostert on Vimeo.

And that after she's been so scared of the cat but also so intrigued by it. We think her next word will probably be 'yoghurt'. That was what she was grumbling for in between looking for the cat in the video. She had a little bit of yoghurt with fruit puree after the risotto she had for dinner. Then gave me such a dirty look when I told her it was finished that I got her a little more. Tried it again after the second lot was finished. There was no more fruit left so I gave her plain (homemade) yoghurt which she finished too. She just loves loves our plain yoghurt even though it's quite tart. So yes, if she could she'll be saying yoghurt soon. Maybe we should put off telling her what it's called as she might drive us crazy demanding it then!

She's understanding so much now too. She can follow most instructions such as come here, turn your toothbrush around (when she's chewing the back of it instead of the front), go find daddy (when he's still lying in bed and I got her up) and of course when we say 'where's the cat' she looks out the window searching for it.

She can now also wave and clap although it still takes her brain quite a while sometimes to get the message to her hands. And can touch her head and her hair when asked (these two words sound quite different in Afrikaans so is easier for her to distinguish between the two I think) and crinkles her nose and sniffs when asked where her nose is. Next we're working on eyes and mouth :-) It's amazing how much she's learning at the moment.