"Dut!"

As we are approaching Tessa's first birthday, I am seeing that she is learning and doing so much! The other night when we were at my mom and dad's for my dad's birthday, she shouted "Gampa!" when my dad walked in the room. We have never heard her say it so clearly. Last night, she learned a new word. She was in the bathtub, playing in the bubbles and having a great time. We have a rubber ducky thing that covers the water spout in the tub so she won't bump her head on it, and she noticed it and reached for it to touch it. She has done this before, and I try to tell her "duck" or "ducky" to see if she'll say it, but it always comes out sounding more like what she says when she says, "dad" or "daddy." But then last night, she reached up for it, and I said, "That's a duck, Tessa, duck." She looked up at me with wide open eyes, touched the duck and said, "dut? dut? DUT!" She kept getting louder and louder and more excited. I was so happy for her, I just kept saying, "yes, that's a duck!" She was so proud of herself and I was crying because I was so happy for her that she learned a new word. I can't believe how much she's changing. Yeah for the "duts"!