Clara's Words

I've always heard people ask what a baby's first word was, or when he or she started talking. I never thought much about that. But now, I realize how silly it is to ask what the first word was. Clara has been communicating well since she was a baby. At 10 months she started signing consistently and our communication improved. Now, at 13 months, she still signs and has begun to use some words consistently and others off and on. I realized that I'm not sure when exactly she started talking. It wasn't a sudden thing. It has been a gradual process, with lots of starts and stops along the way. That said, here is a list of Clara's "words" - some that she uses often, others that she has only said a couple of times:

Mama (mostly combined with the sign for "please" when she wants something, but used other times as well)
Dada (used like "mama" but when talking to Luke)
uh oh (her favorite word at the moment)
shoe
applesauce (she said this one for the first time this morning, clear as day!)
Yeehaw! (guess who taught her that one!)

Animal noises (many of these have been around longer than most of the words):
woof woof (sounds more life "fff, fff" - she loves the "f" sound!)
bah bah (for chicken)
rr rr (rooster)
nnnnn (in pitch for horse/pony)
mmmmmoo (cow)
lulululu (peacock)
ha ha (goose)
baaa (sheep)
ooww (kitty cat)
(these last 3 are not as regular, they're more in progress)

Words she has said once or twice:
Papa
Gramma (gah...MA!)
Amen (sounds more like mama at the moment)
Ni ni (night night)
Buh buh (bye bye)
hat
ears
eye

Besides these words, she talks in her own language constantly. Our house is filled with chatter! She has lots to say and it is so fun to hear some of it becoming distinguishable from the babble!