I think I need to start making him cry it out. He shouldn't be needing to eat in the middle of the night anymore.

However, to get over my grumpiness at being up, I have to do a little bragging! He started saying Ma ma yesterday! And he said it all day long. It is absolutely adorable!

Obviously he is a genius. Only six months old and already his first word! (Okay--seven months tomorrow--but we do still have two days to say he's six months old!)

And, yes, I do have a witness. T is sick. I took him to my mother to keep tomorrow since he can't go to daycare with a fever. And Koby was spouting it off! It's absolutely adorable. I've got to record it. Not tonight--but sometime.

Okay--I'm going to try to put him back to bed so I can go back to bed.

Sincerely,

Ma ma

Point 2:

We were driving home from Eckert's Saturday and Grandma Bea was talking to one of the older girls probably about apple pie and ice cream dessert. At the end of her statement, she said "okey dokey?" And without a second's delay, Clara said "okey dokey!" It was the cutest thing and we all laughed for about a minute. It really sounded more like "kdydkdy," but that's close enough in my book.

Next item up for bid: Pandora. Seriously, if you haven't been to Pandora.com and you're looking for a cool music website/streaming radio station for at work, go there. It's awesome, and it fits perfectly into my budget because it's free.

What's next on our showcase floor? Artistful.com. I can't promote this site enough and not only because I'm on it. Sometime before October is out, it'll be open to the public to purchase art, etc. If you're an artist, you can go there now and sign up. Jocelyn, Jim, Chris: do you remember when we used to talk about making a website for artists so they can showcase their work and network and sell their art? Well they beat us to it, not that we were trying very hard. I'm having so much fun networking, and we've also decided to do a group art project. The final piece will be a huge conglomeration of self portraits from all around the country surrounding the Artistful logo. It may be on the side of one of my fellow artist's house. There will be prints for sale when it's done. If you want to participate, sign up at Artistful.com and join the group "New Found Talent." And what's the price Bob Barker? That's right, it's FREE. (Ann Taylor, are you catching onto the trend yet?)

Back to Macy's. A kind relative gave us a gift card to Macy's for Julia. I would never buy clothes for her there otherwise because it's so expensive. But guys, I got THE MOST BEAUTIFUL Christmas dress ever. It's gold and cream and gorgeous. I can't wait until Julia gets bigger and Christmas comes and I can make her wear it. I also bought a cute dress for her first family portrait in November. And, folks, I bought her first pair of shoes. Little patent leather mary janes. Ahhhhh. Too big for her now, but they should be just right come Nov./Dec.

Julia has managed to say her first word. No matter how hard I've tried to get her to say "mama," she's decided to say "dada" first. And now it's all she wants to say. I look at her and say, "can you say 'mama'?" She looks back, smiles, and says "da da da da da da da." She's even said Daddy a couple of times. And once, yesterday morning, Joe swears she accidentally said "Julia." Harumph.

She enjoys her pacifier, too. I have nothing against pacifiers, I just never thought I would use one on my kid. Plus, for the first few months, she wouldn't use it. Now she loves it, and it makes putting her to bed so much easier. That is, unless she's having bad dreams, in which case she cries and screams in her sleep and has to go to bed with me.

Random bit of the day: In my last post, I referred to a dream I had about a test I had to take and somehow, a government site (that i apparently have no authorization to go to) did a pingback to me. It makes me wonder what will happen if I just make a list of things like George Bush, politics, republican, big brother, giraffe, and robot chicken.

Last item up for bid: my right foot. I seem to have hurt it somehow and now I'm limping around the house barely able to put weight on it. Now it's the first day of fall and it's gorgeous out, but I can't go for a walk and it really stinks.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think that's it for today. Thanks for watching, and don't forget to spay or neuter your pet today.

A more formal introduction to this place will come next, but thought it would be appropriate to start things off with my 'first word' so to speak.  As the story goes, my first word wasn't 'Mommy' or 'Daddy' or anything as appropriate as that.  Picked up as a result of daily newspaper readings from my Father, instead I chose 'Petroleum' to be my vocal introduction to the world.  So I suppose that's where I'l start here as well.  We'll see where it takes us.

So the end of Charlie's ninth month and her tenth have been all about talking.  Since she is bowl full of sunshine, her first word was "hi!"  She started saying hi at random times, never when we asked her, but always while walking down the street watching strangers go by.  Now she says it all the time.

Then while we were in New Jersey, Charlie said her second word.  Given that she's on course to become a world renowned botanist, her second word was "flower."  Yes, "flower."  She said it for a week straight, everywhere we went, to everyone she met and about everything she saw.  She said it ALL THE TIME.  It was the cutest thing.  And then she stopped.  As soon as we got home, she moved on to another, even more exciting word.  So I have no video of her saying "flower," but I do have lots and lots of video of Charlie saying her third and most favorite word, "doggie!"

 (Papi is trying to get her to quack because she did it once earlier in the day and hasn't done it since (or has rarely done it since)).

As you can see, she has a book with a picture of a doggie in it.  She loves this book.  In fact, she loves all books.  They are her new favorite toy.  The only other things that she plays with (second to books) are mixing bowls/cups.  So we got her more books with doggies in them because the one in this video was getting kinda old.  We also got her a small stuff doggie that she carries around everywhere.  It is the perfect size.  She picked it out.  It looks exactly like the doggie in one of her new favorite books.  So of course once she learned how to say doggie, she had to learn how to talk like one.

That was about 10 days ago, now her ruff ruff sounds less like a wild, crazy growl and more like a refined, yelping bark.  I'll see if I can get her to do in on camera.

I don't really have a comment for the last one, except that I think it's cute and I feel like I'm watching her perform a little show about her wooden book every time I watch it.

The other words she has said are: light, tree, Mama, duck, quack.  She's also making a sound now that might be Papi, but we don't know yet. 

Enjoy.

So anyways... a few weeks ago i was on youtube and came across some videos of babies saying their first words at only a  few months old.  Their words were not fully formed but they were trying their hardest to imitate what their parent was saying... for example take a look at these 2 videos...

...the babies in the videos are not saying the words properly but you can make out in the first video she is TRYING to say hello and in the second she is imitating her mother saying I love you.

Anyways... after seeing these videos and a few others I thought about saying hello to Ollie every single day a number (a large number hehe) of times... well today at 10 weeks and 2 days he tried to say his first word - hello.  It did not come out perfectly but every time we repeated it back to him he came back with the two syllables... he was reeeeeeeeeeally trying!  We repeated the word and then he repeated it about 20 times before he got bored... i didnt get a chance to get it on my camera but Ill try tonight.

Babies are cleverer than we give them credit for I think!

There are many of us that share the same first word honoring our fathers, "da da." However, I am very curious to know what other first words were uttered that surprised a parent and lead to a fabulous story.

According to the Baby Center, at 4 to 6 months "your child will start to babble, combining consonants and vowels (such as "baba" or "yaya"). The first "mama" or "dada" may slip out now and then. Though it's sure to melt your heart, your baby doesn't equate those words with you quite yet. That comes later, when he's almost a year old."

It's fascintaing to imagine the moment you took a chance and formed your first word. Even though it was more of a sound/repeating what your parents said or encouraged, your brain and mouth were taking the very first verbal step.

What was your first word?

image courtesy of Christina Welsh (Rin)

perkenal kan gw mortred.

uh kyknya pada bingung yah ap tuh mortred? mor itu merupakan nama hero di dota! game yg paling gw sukai, gemari, cintai, dan musuhi *loh? knp gw milih nama ini? karena gw suka aj tuh sm nama ini, sering bgt gw dgr saat2 gw main dota ^^

hmm skalian deh gw mau critain alesan gw bkin blog ( mang ad yg mau dgr ni cerita huhu)

jadi gini pada suatu hari, cewek gw (skarang dah mantan) baca buku karangan raditya dika, nah saat itu dia tuh selalu aj ktawa2 gk jelas, tp karena kyknya lucu jg gw ikt2an deh bli tuh buku, sebenernya gw gk bgitu ngerti sm yg namanya blog tp krn kyknya seru jg dan gw pgn nambah tmen dan crita2 jadilah blog yg gk ad gunanya ini XD

yah terimakasih utk kunjungan kalian smua yah ^^

'BROKE FUTURES' - THURSDAY 10pm til late on FM 99.3 (Sydney EST)

Following on from 'the newness' last week, we have a new name and a fresh outlook. Basically if things were going to keep moving forward, then we had make some changes. Plus I'm a Sagi, and we're nuts for this shit (change that is).

So this isn't really a return then.  Well, not for the show. That was last week, and was massive quite frankly. But for Samiyam..... if you're talking about him, well then it definitely is.  In a big way. His new four track EP on Hyperdub is killing shit. This heater alongside that Flying Lotus/Lil Wayne mix that's hurtin' em, a rough NEW J Dilla joint,  ANOTHER huge Yellowtail track, crazy heaviness from both Jahdann Blakkamoore and Lewi White, a bass stomper from Connecticut, new Q-Tip (w/ D'angelo!!) and a reflective beauty from Kid Sublime.

El-P - 'Fuck the Law' - Definitive Jux

Connecticut - 'Charisma' - Eklektik

J Dilla - 'Oxtopus Boom Boom' - moovmnt

Flying Lotus, Phonte, Oddisee, Tor - 'The Perch' - CD-R

Oh No - 'Oneness of JuJu instrumental (27:10 mark)' - Stones Throw

Skillz ft. Common and Talib Kweli - So Far So Good (remix) - Koch

Q-Tip ft. D'Angelo - 'I Believe' - Children of the Sun

Hawthorne Headhunters - 'She Wanna' - HVW8

J Davey - 'Lil Big Heads' - Illav8r

Nosaj Thing - 'Bach' - Stussy/Turntable LAB

Samiyam - 'Trick Platform' - Hyperdub

Flying Lotus/Lil Wayne - 'Robotussin' - moovmnt

A.D. Bourke - 'SP' - Treble O

Various Production - 'Lost (Actress remix)' - Various Production

Blackpocket - 'Ur A Star (Martyn remix)' - Fat City

2562 - 'Redux' - Tectonic

Lewi White - 'Sideline' - Z Audio

Jahdan Blakkamoore  - 'Nice Green' - Dutty Artz UK

Fool - 'Real Thing (Various Productions remix)' - Hum & Haw

Lekan Babalola - 'Asokere (I.G. Culture remix)' - Mr Bongo 

S.K. Radicals - 'Troubled Times (BITA remix)' - Groovement

Erykah Badu - 'Honey (Seiji mix)' - Sony

Yellowtail ft. Selma I - 'Miss 17 (Arch-Typ's Punk Funk mix)' - Bagpak

Yellowtail ft. Russell Morgan - 'Changes' - Dancing  Turtle

Mr Scruff - 'Get Up to Give' - Ninja Tune

Andy H - 'Kick Kick' - First Word

Stac - 'Ball's Bounce (Bonobo remix)' - Wah Wah

Natural Self - 'Alexandra and Gabriel' - Tru Thoughts

Kid Sublime - 'Pityful Times (extended version)' - Dopeness Galore

LATE

next week we have an in depth look at one of our fave labels, Stockholm powerhouse Raw Fusion. Can't wait!

'BROKE FUTURES' - THURSDAY 10pm til late on FM 99.3 (Sydney EST)

Mike:  What d'you think her first word's gonna be?

theVet:  Probably "daddy" -- she seems to love seeing you when you come home.

Mike:  Well, she spends a lot more time with you -- I'd bet it's "mommy."

theVet:  We'll see, I suppose.

* * * * *

[Now, walking]

figgy:  [excited, squeals]

Mike:  What is it?  Do you see the doggies?

figgy:  doggy!

theVet:  Her first word!

figgy:  doggy!doggy!doggy!

Mike:  [philosophically] Well, at least that's one fight we won't have to have.

I've been talking over the past few days with different vendors. I've gotten such a good reception; it's made me even more anxious and excited! I may be too optimistic, but I've set an opening day...August 1st! (My mommy's birthday!) We'll see if we can stick to it!

If you know anyone who creates things baby-related, send them my way! :)

P.S. My bean said her first word: doggie! All that "mama" and "dada" and doggie is what she says...go figure!

Stefanie reported when I got home from work tonight that Alex pulled himself up again today. He is incredibly close to crawling, too. He gets situated, but when he pushes off with his knees and legs, he just kind of belly flops on the ground and complains until we pull him up. He stands pretty well as long as we hold on to at least one of his hands, and earlier this week he stood on his own for a few seconds without holding on to anything. Pretty soon, we are going to be in trouble. Time to baby-proof the house.

Alex turned 9 months old this week, and he had his nine-month checkup with the doctor. Everything checked out. He is almost 20 pounds (33rd percentile) and is about 27 inches long (26th percentile). I can't remember his head measurement, but he was in the 78th percentile for that. All of those are up from his six-month checkup (26th percentile for weight, 26th percentile for length and 60-some percentile for head). The doctor said Alex remains small for his age but is growing so well that there is nothing to worry about. He's just a little guy. And so dang cute.

One more thing, Stefanie made me the cutest Father's Day gift: a large framed photo of her with Alex and a construction paper cutout of Alex's hands and arms pasted to another paper that says, "Alex loves Daddy". Almost made me cry. Both gifts are hanging proudly in my  office, which is quickly becoming a shrine to Alex. Thanks, Sweetie, for the Best. Father's Day. Ever.

Since my husband Mike and I are both writers, readers, bought a room full of bookcases to house our library before we bought things like a dining table, we're pretty into books. Throughout my pregnancy, (I think we started at about 5 months), Mike read our childhood favorites to my belly: The Complete Winnie the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner, Peter Pan, The Little Prince, etc. Cavanaugh's got book baskets in our room, his room, and the living room. Maybe needless to say, his saying, "Booh" might be more exciting than when he said, "Mama" for the first time.

Mike and I maniacally clapped and said, "You said book" over and over.

Hurray, it’s the SPICE for the month of March. It is full of possibilities and we are still working around the clock just to maintain our goal of keeping a superior perspective. This month, I learnt that just because you know the odds against it do not mean you should focus on them. If we are really serious about living a winning life we must be focused on solutions and not problems. Find out how Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, MD of Interswitch, provided solutions in Nigeria that made ATM cards a household necessity.

Sen. Barack Obama is ahead of Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton on the democratic primaries for the US, as he’s just won Mississippi and I am thinking if Hilary agrees to be VP, they’d be a formidable team against the republicans. Let’s wait and see what happen though, it’s bound to be exciting. Next week is “diamonds in the rough” a program organized by my parent company and is to hold at the University of Lagos Auditorium, University of Lagos. As the day draws nearer and we are busting our butts to get everything ready on time, the anticipation of the event itself still blows our mind everyday. It’s going to be the bomb

During the week my colleague and I got apprehended by two Lastma officers and while I appreciate the maintaining of law and order in Lagos, I would like to suggest that the authorities in charge caution their boys to stop threatening law abiding citizens with a charge of a N100,000 if they are caught passing one- way. All the prices are inflated as threats in order to force law abiding citizens to give bribes.

Finally, I just want to say I am glad this month’s SPICE is out since so far it’s been the most challenging one. It is sizzling hot and also to appreciate everyone who has in one way or another contributed to its success. You are loved and appreciated and to you who is reading it read it and enjoy!