Ckcklcklckx-aaahr

I'm not sure how you really decide what your child's first word is.  I mean, he's been saying "mamamamama" and "dadadadadada" for a long time now, but never really as a way to identify or get the attention of his parents -- they're just sounds.  He uses them in the same contexts as he uses "a-wawawawawawa" and blowing raspberries.

My dad is pretty sure that he says "--g" for dog -- like, he misses the "d" sound, but gets the end, 'ug-uh' sound, and uses it when he sees a dog.  I'm not quite sure, because when he's with me, he squeals with joy when he sees a dog, or sticks his tongue out and pants, but doesn't usually seem to be saying a word.

He loves doing "cheers!" with his sippy cup, and one day we clanked glasses, I said "cheers!" and he said "deeeee-ohhhh," and I thought, hey, that seems like a word! At least it sounded sorta right, and it made sense in context.

But then he never said it again.

But this weekend, he started doing a very insistent, concentration-filled "Ckcklckcklckx-aaahr" while pointing out the window at cars driving by, or when pointing at a fire truck in one of his books, or while pointing to a plastic dump truck in his toy box.  He seems to totally know what he is saying, and while it's not always precise, he gets the general idea that "things that have wheels and that go are cars."  He also does seem to be communicating: from his little perch by the window of our urban apartment, he will point his finger and look up at me with amazement and disbelief, like, can you believe our luck? Look, hurry, before you miss it!  There's a ckcklckcklckx-aaahr out there!!

So, I'm thinking I'll say that "car" is his first word, at 13 months.  The dog stuff came earlier, which maybe makes him sound smarter, but then again, I'm not sure that "my child's first word was to pant like a dog" really makes him sound all that smart.