Maybe a first word, maybe a first hyphenated sound

I always imagined Robin's first word would be something definite, like "Ma ma" or "Da da". It would come out of the blue, and she would point to one of us and shout out "Ma ma!", and likely she would be pointing to me, but who cares!

It's turning out to be different than I thought; much more hilarious. Here is how I think she has caught on to her first "word". Or sound. Or whatever you want to call it. I'll back it up a bit first.

When Robin was first learning to eat, she would need a lot of distractions (other than the food billowing out of her mouth after every spoonful). We would put toy after toy on her high chair in front of her, which always got covered in food, and mostly ended up on the floor. As time has gone on, she has needed less and less toys, but as with most babies, almost everything you put on the tray in front of her will spend some time on the floor.

Feeding Robin every day apparently brought out all of the googly-eyed, exaggerated baby talk my inner-most brain could muster. Every time something went on the floor, Daddy would (with great embellishment) shrug his shoulders with his palms open to the sky and in a cutesy-poo voice say "Uh-ohs!", which often lands me a little Robin giggle.

Which brings me to Robin's first "word". Uh-oh.

It's hard to tell right now if she's mimicking or really saying it in context on her own, but there definitely have been a few times when she has dropped something on the floor and followed it up with a quiet little uh-oh. You should see her mouth scrinch up to make the O sound. Adorable.

PS: Yes, I DO understand the tragic irony that after spending so much time with me at home, my little girl's first word would be uh-oh. How many things has she watched Daddy break, run into, or burn in the oven? Did I just write this story as a cover up? No.

Has Robin given in to Pavlov?

Warning: this post may be too graphic for some readers. If you're a wuss.

Every once in a while, we bring Robin into the shower with us and let her crawl around. It gets her clean, she loves it, and it gives me or Jen a chance to shower.

Now, we have a routine where I undress her on the change table, then hold her as I turn on the shower and let the water warm up. Then she pees on me. Routinely.

So the other day, I thought that maybe we could use this to our advantage. I know it's early for toilet training, but we gave it a whirl and plopped her on the toilet. At first, nothing happened. Then I remembered: Robin's pee-before-shower reflex.

As I sat Robin on the toilet, Jen turned on the water in the tub, and voila! Robin heard the running water and peed in the toilet!

... however, I tried to do it again another day, and it, uh, didn't go as well. Let's just say I had to wash some toilet water off a little girl's feet. Maybe it's a little soon yet.

Watching hockey "with" Robin

As we watch game 7 of the NHL playoffs of the Penguins vs the Red Wings (and game 6 of the Moose in the Calder cup against the Hershey Bears), I'm also watching my daughter be marveled with nothing less than her pair of Blue Bomber shoes.

This makes me remember the realization that Jen and I have had: Robin better like sports. If she's into high fashion or ballet, I think we might be lost. Not that we would try to change her like or push her in a certain direction, it would just make things right confusing for us.

Robin has also started a daycare run out of a home. She's only going twice a week right now, to get her (well, really me) used to it. So far she's doing great (and I'd say Daddy is doing OK too).

That top floor is getting ever closer to being finished. Robin, your room is coming soon!