If a tree falls in a forest

Here's a baby related philosophical topic for discussion: if a child says 'Da Da, Da Da', when there is no father around to hear it, does it still count as a first word?

And there's an interesting behavioural point. There is nobody about in our household to encourage Anna to "say Dad! Go on, say Da Da! Da Da!" but this has not stopped her from saying it anyway. So obviously Da Da from a baby doesn't mean 'I love you, big warm hairy person who is good for cuddles but doesn't have milk', it means nothing more than 'hey, I am practising my sounds and look what noise I can make now'.

Sorry to all those loving fathers out there who may now be feeling a bit disillusioned… if it makes you feel any better, I think I know where the Mum Mum "words" come from too – it’s the noise babies learn to make at mealtimes when they really want to open wide and let out a bit screamy sound, but can't because when they do someone shoves a plastic thing full of weird-tasting stuff inside.