Odegaard Toddler Says First Real Word

Odegaard Toddler Says First Real Word

"Lion," remarked the toddler, marking her very first concept-associated word. "Roar," she softly affirmed next. And only moments later, with one small prompt from Mommy, she firmly said "lamb."

Kalina, resident toddler of the Odegaard household, has officially spoken.

The Odegaard parents claim nothing less than bemusement at their 14-month-old's first speech, which took place mid-morning today to an audience of one: Mommy.

"Really? Lion?" questioned a confused Mommy, who was nevertheless ecstatic that her daughter was finally talking.

The girl has been surrounded by farm animals, cats, dogs, bunnies, blocks, balls, books, and of course Mommy and Daddy since birth, but apparently none of these words could entice her to speak. Neither could the mooing, baaing, barking, meowing, oinking, quacking, hee-hawing, neighing, buzzing, chirping and clucking that regularly accompany storytime in the household.

Kalina's parents both enthusiastically raved about their daughter's accomplishment. "We've always known that Kalina was brilliant," stated Daddy, "but we're still amazed that she's already grasped the lion/lamb concept at such a young age."

However, Mommy has not always been quite so optimistic. "It seemed like she took a really long time to talk," she mentioned. "I guess she just wanted her first words to be profound. Definitely worth the wait."

The toddler had added a bit of confusion to the mix by saying "gah!" quite frequently over the past few months, which sounds much like "cat," according to Mommy. However, Kalina used the word rather indiscriminately, which makes "gah" doubtful as a first word. Officials are still deliberating, but early reports are in favor of lion.

When asked why she chose "Lion" as her first word, Kalina stated that she didn't actually say lion, correcting the reporter's pronunciation. "Lyughn," she said again, leaving her parents to wonder if their child will grow up with a French accent.

The lion in question lives in a library book picked up on Monday. It's bright yellow, with a bright orange mane and a smiling mouth. The mommy-toddler pair had read the book just once before Mommy suspected the girl was starting to catch on to the word. Mommy recalled working on roaring, and also on "lamb," because of the proximity of Lamby (Kalina's stuffed companion) at the time.

This morning, Mommy picked up the book and flipped it to the lion page, asking Kalina what the animal was. The toddler stated "lion," without prompting, followed by an unprompted miniature roar. The word lamb was then extracted from the toddler with only minimal effort on Mommy's part, thanks again to the proximity of Lamby.

"We could tell Kalina has been working on words for the past few weeks," said Mommy. "Her favorite toy nowadays is a nursery rhyme book that she likes to stand on as we read. She's also working on balancing."

A few successive attempts to get Kalina to repeat her first word were successful, however the girl was more likely to roar instead.