Hi, Kitty!

I think Ewan may be saying his first word, or even words. A few times when we've been around our cat, Lola, I've noticed that he said something that sounded like "kitty," but I brushed it off as a coincidence. This morning, however, it became more clear. When Ewan woke up, I opened our bedroom door and Lola ran in. I bent down to let Ewan see her and he said "kitty" enough times that I thought, it can't be a coincidence. I called Troy in and Ewan said it a couple more times, and Troy agreed with me. Interestingly, my sister made a comment on my last post asking (jokingly, I think), "in the army-crawl video, around the 14-second mark: is it just me, or does Ewan totally say 'kitty'? " When I watched it again, it does kind of sound like that, but it's so fast and in the middle of a crawling and babbling session, so it's hard to tell. This morning I was pretty darn sure, though. I could also swear he's been saying, "hi." I mean, he has been saying it, but I've thought he's said it with meaning, like to people, animals, or even his stuffed animals. This morning I even thought I heard a couple times, "Hi, Kitty!" Is it possible this boy is speaking in sentences before he's speaking individual words? Maybe he takes after his Aunt Katherine, who reportedly recited the Pledge of Allegiance at the ripe old age of two years. Or maybe not. Maybe I imagined it, and maybe he won't speak in sentences until he's three, and we'll love him just the same.

I always thought all these milestones would be so clear, but with each one I find myself asking, "Does this count?" Like, "Does this count as sitting unsupported when he usually topples over after a minute or two?" Or, "Does this count as crawling when he doesn't get his belly off the floor?" It forces me to give my parental pride (and anxiety) a big old chill pill and just let Ewan be who he is, and to try not to compare him to the books or friends' babies or make judgments about his rate of development ("He's very advanced."). At the same time, though, it's so damn exciting when they do something new, that you just want to announce it to the world. So anyway, I'm just reporting on what we heard, or thought we heard. I imagine it will become more clear with time, and I'll be sure to try to get a video soon.