First words

My daughter, Marisa, said her first word yesterday - "Mama"! She's nine months old, and has been happily babbling away for quite a while, with some "yum-yum"s while eating, but yesterday was the first time we heard a crystal clear "Mama" when she wasn't talking to her food. I was elated, to say the least. My husband is taking it well too - I tried to get the baby to say "Daddy" next, but my husband insisted we not confuse her, and well, he let me win for now. :)

When we told my mother-in-law, who watches the baby while we're at work, she said the baby has said "mama" before, to her, when we weren't there. I didn't say this to her (and feel safe posting it here since I'm completely confident that my mother-in-law won't be surfing the web for my blog any time soon) - but I decided it doesn't count if my husband and I aren't there to witness it. She may well have said mama before - but she didn't say it to me, and I'm her mama, so it doesn't count.

Here's a major binary, a major source of tension for me - I love my daughter. I love my job. Being good at both at the same time? Tricky. I want to be there for every important moment of my daughter's life, yet at the same time, I want to set a good example for her as a professional, as someone who contributes something to the world through her work. Finding a good balance - well, I'm working on it.