November 1, 2010

I Couldn't Make This Up If I Tried

Let me preface this with a few facts:
1. Six months ago, Mac's first word was "Dada."
2. At seven months, he was saying "Dada" discriminately, using it to indicate Bradley.
3. In the last six months, Mac has expanded his father-related vocabulary to include Dad, Daddy, Dada and Da. It's all daddy all the time around here.
4. In his six months of talking, Mac has never spoken my name. Nor made the "ma" sound for milk, Mac, monkey, anything. That would be too close to "Mama" for his liking.
5. Every so often, we try to see if we can get a "ma" sound out of Mac. We say, "Can you say Mama?" Mac says, "Dada!" Then he laughs. True story.

Late last week Mac was his normal, force-to-be-reckoned-with self. He's a bundle of smiles every morning, and nothing makes him smile more broadly than getting his sweet baby hands on something he shouldn't have. After I hid the remotes and moved the DVD player cord out of his (insanely long, Go Go Gadget Arms-style) reach, he was quiet for a full moment. I peeked over to see him sitting on the floor, beaming at my cell phone, squealing and pressing buttons randomly.

Who, me?

No problem, I thought. I keep my cell phone locked and he's probably had it for ten seconds, max. I swap the cell phone for Mac's favorite Millie Moo book (he's not fooled), hide the phone and move right along.

Not sixty seconds later my cell phone rang. It was the fire department, checking to see if we had an emergency. Mac had somehow unlocked my phone, put it in emergency mode (what is this??), dialed 0, squealed and hung up. As is their policy, the first responding department returned our call to ensure that no one needed help.

Talk about embarrassment - I nearly died. I couldn't find a record of the call in my phone (emergency mode, maybe?) but knew he hadn't dialed 911. I didn't hear a thing and was six feet away the whole 10 seconds he had it. I must have apologized to the fire department half a dozen times in our brief conversation. My child had all but sent a bat signal for the cops! Surely DSS couldn't be far behind?

When I hung up, I gave Mac my serious mom face and said, "McNeal Smith, I cannot believe what you just did!" He looked up, all blue eyes and chubby cheeks, and said as clear as day, "Mama!"

Mama. He saved that magic sound as his "get out of jail free" card. Who knows how long he's been practicing in his crib just waiting for the right moment to bust out that heart-melting word.

I don't know if he's sly or sweet or a combination of the two, but I can tell you he chose just the right moment to say my name.

If only he'd keep saying it... I wonder if he's waiting for another mishap? Mac's lucky he's so cute!

15 comments:

Suze said...

i think i snorted i was laughing so hard! That is hilarious but at least you know the fire dept is doing their job :)

Hope you have a great day tomorrow!

Margaret said...

what a smart little boy!! he's probably been able to say it longer than he could say daddy, he was just saving it for the right time!! :)

mac and whitt must be opposites---whitt has yet to make the "da" sound! he's 16 months old and has been saying "mama" for a few months but hasn't said "dada" or any derivative of the word. poor ben has been waiting patiently but i can tell that it is starting to get to him!

Maggie said...

Uh oh... you're in major trouble, I think. The boy knows tech secrets AND now has a Get Out Of Jail Free card?! Good luck. :-)

Kristen said...

I will be laughing about this ALL day! Love love love!! :)

Unknown said...

TOO CUTE!!

Julie H. said...

Best story ever! He really is adorable!! Love it!

Kathy said...

It took Will 15 months to say Mama (he went straight to "Mommy" about a week later)! I SO know your pain - just WAITING for that word to come from those sweet lips! And then one day it happens, and low and behold, you love him EVEN MORE (like that is even possible!). Way to go Mac! Make your "Mama's" day every day with that sweet word!

MatersandMelons said...

Ha! This is hilarious! Of course he would pick that moment to say Mama!!!!c

TheBrookshires said...

What a sweet story!

Mary Loyal said...

That is so funny and so adorable!

StratPack said...

Love it! Perfect timing, Mac! And, Anne, you described it perfectly. Great story for you to tell for years to come!

melissa said...

What a hilarious, precious story. Your boy is cute and smart - a dangerous combination! :)

Katherine Rawl said...

That's so sweet!

Caleb has withheld Momma too. He says it ...(read SCREAMS it) from his crib when he really doesn't want to go to bed. Now that he says it, it's still not nearly as often as Da-Da.

What's funny is he refuses to call me by name, but he's SUCH a little Momma's boy!

Melissa and Chad said...

This is hilarious! Chad doesn't like to say Mama either. I'll ask him to say it and he'll say Dada. What a cute story!

Stephanie said...

Oh my gosh, this had me laughing so hard. And he definitely picked the perfect time to say that precious word Mama! Absolutely adorable!

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