I’ve been holding off on this blog post.

Because I was so hoping that Aaron would be the first to  speak.

He showed such promise, babbling first and more often. I really wanted Aaron to do something, anything before Sam.

One day I started saying “Hi” to the babies. Not just any “Hi”. It was a high pitched, long and drawn out, “Hiiiiiieeee”

Sam repeated it. I rationalized he was not actually talking, he didn’t know what he was saying and sometimes he answered us and sometimes he didn’t but he never said “Hi” on his own so it wasn’t really a word, just mimicking.

Then there was more mimicking from Sam. I waited, hoping I could distort reality and hear Aaron speak first.

But this week, something that could not be construed as mimicking popped out of Sam’s mouth.

Every day he tries on any shoes that are around the house. I’ve seen him in Jack’s shoes, Ben’s shoes, Adam’s shoes and my shoes. It is quite clear that he can say the word shoe and identify what a shoe is.

So it is with big joy, and also big unease for Aaron’s ego, that I announce Sam’s first word, “Shoes”. His pronunciation, “Shz”.