"Da, Da.."

Last week, Nik began saying in a whisper, "Da, Da, Da," and I knew that it wasn't far off before she would be mouthing the words, with an audible, "Da, Da." On Thursday, when I was off with her, I was changing her, and she said, "Da, Da." I couldn't believe my ears, to hear her little voice mouth these first words, I had been longing to hear. I responded with a very audible, "Yes, Yes, Da, Da, Good Job, Nikolina, Good Job," followed by some jumping and some clapping, and a little dance that involved some spinning. We worked on it all day, bc I couldn't wait for Josh to come home and hear those words. I was determined that I could get her to say them in front of him as he held her in his arms upon arriving home, and I tried desperately to make that happen. And, it nearly did, a couple times but not to the course that I was hoping it would. I saw his eyes perk up when he thought he heard it too, and I could tell he knew she was very close, or he accepted her muffled half "Da, Da" as the real thing. I didn't tell him, bc I wanted him to hear it for the first time as I did. On Friday when we were out to dinner with our niece and my Father-in-law, she really started saying it, and I outed that she said it yesterday, and that we had been working on it since then silently. By Saturday, and Sunday, despite her battling the Fall Virus of 2009 to end all viruses, she still managed to speak those words every chance she got, and became very good at it. She's now a pro, and is very impressed with herself and her language of one word that seems to elicit a parade from us with each audible "Da, Da" spoke. She has even taken to saying "Dad" and "Daddy." we can't wait to hear more from her and to broaden her vocabulary. Until then, she is loving communicating with us, and we are loving every moment!