Da

Even though Jasper doesn't use signs much at all with us, he definitely is understanding what we say to him and trying to work on his own verbal skills. Back in May, I noticed him looking at or crawling to Kieffer while saying "da", so I think we will call Dog his first official word.

He really likes to pet (and pat) Kieffer and she is so tolerant of his sometimes unexpected and strong baby pats and grabs. We work on teaching him to be gentle and Kieffer shows us how to be patient.

Too bad Kieffer's so camera shy; we'd have some great shots of Jasper petting her or, his favorite, crawling under her while she's standing in the kitchen or living room. I think Kieffer thinks that one is some kind of test of wills and she refuses to move for a mere baby, but the baby thinks - how fun, I'll just crawl right under the doggie bridge!

Sadly, Kieffer died just two weeks after Jasper started saying Dog. We all miss her very much. We have a new dog around the house, now, Flash (a basset hound), and Jasper was very excited to have a "Da Da" around the house again.