first words, first steps

I have been ruminating on this post for a long time. In fact, there has been some existential angst in our household regarding the topic of "firsts."

How does one define "first word"? And if you want to get really deep, what qualifies as a word? Does the sound just need to have intention, or does it need to be a real English word? Does it count if only your parents can understand you? Do you have to be able to use it on cue? What if you say it only once? What if you use that same word for many things? What if you say a word that no one can understand? What if you say it in a forest and no one can hear? What if you say them on a train, on a boat... oops, wrong story.

Likewise, when are you truly walking? Is it when you have taken your first two steps? When you can retrieve something by using walking as locomotion? When you can walk across the room? Or when you use walking as your main form of transportation? These are the difficult questions that plague Steve and I when we aren't too tired to think.

Perhaps Samuel's first word was dog. He uttered what his doting parents believe to be doggy and kitty as early as 11 months. That said, he called just about everything that he liked doggy, including me, for about two months, at which point the word disappeared from his lexicon rarely to be heard again. In the past four months, we have heard what we believe to be any number of words, including but not limited to: help, please, up, no, yes, mommy, daddy, nose, this, keys, music, raspberry (I know, we're crazy, but it was clear as day), kitty and happy. We believe his first really intentional phrase was "No no no," which actually meant, "Give that to me," because that is what I always say to him before I rip knives, scissors, ice picks and other dangerous objects out of his hands. "Nose" is currently his most consistent and reliable word, and I think we can attribute it's use to Grandpa Tom who never fails to ask Samuel where his is.

On the subject of walking, it is similarly difficult to pinpoint the "first" moment in time. Again, Samuel's first steps took place at about 11 months. He was getting to a standing position on his own even earlier than that. It wasn't until about 13 months that he started really walking, however, and within two weeks, he quit crawling altogether.

At some point, I hope to add some walking video to this post. If I ever get some talking action I will add that as well.