Mama Mia 2

In the months since Benjamin uttered his first word, he's added another one to his vocabulary: "Baba," which means "father" in Chinese. The first time I heard him say "Baba" was while Vince was gone on one of his business trips. After not seeing his father for several days, Benjamin began wandering the halls while intoning, "Baba? Baba?" over and over again. For the most part, he uses "Baba" for Vince alone, but when my father was visiting, he started calling him "Baba" as well. Perhaps Benjamin thinks that "Baba" really means "clean-cut Chinese guy" and not "father." This got me thinking about whether or not he really understood the meaning of the word "mama." I was inclined to believe that he did, because I had only ever heard him use the word to reference me. Sometimes while puttering around the house, I'd feel a tug on my pants and hear his little voice say "mama." Or when he grew tired of being held by someone else, he'd reach his arms towards me and cry "mama." The sound of his sweet voice calling for me almost always melts my heart. Almost.