The verdict is in

I am officially allergic to vegetable gum which is essentially used in most thickened liquids that are not designated as "all natural," including, but not limited to, salad dressings, sauces, jelly, cake icing, chocolate products, creams, cream cheese, and many many more items that might include "xanathan gum." My allergist's recommendation was, "stop eating out at restaurants." WOW! We all know that's not gonna happen. So, if we're ever out eating dinner, you might request a brief tutorial on how to use my epi-pen if I pass out in front of you and/or start swelling up and turning red like a roma tomato.

Enough about the boring stuff. Alex's babbling is as delightful to my ears as a nice tall glass of lemonade on a hot day. Eddy believes, and now I might possibly believe, that Alex has said his first word....and NO....it isn't "mama." It is not "dada" either although he frequently babbles that string of consonant-vowel combinations, even when Eddy is not present. It is in fact "og" for "dog." Being the recently graduated speech pathologist that I am, I fully understand that many parents exaggerate this milestone and believe it to have occured when a child is in fact babbling. In order for it to be a first true word, it must be consistently used in the presence of the referent, or more simply put, a child must be referring to a particular object and consistently use that word to describe that object.

Any time Alex hears Bubba bark, he says "og" and looks at or for Bubba. He also proceeds to babble "bubububububu...." I didn't believe Eddy when he told me over the phone. I was in Houston for Anesha's bachelorette party, but now I might actually believe it. Now I might actually believe that my child loves Bubba more than he loves me. At least our first born's first word was that of a neutral party and the name of a beloved family member....The Bubs.