And anyone who argues the point is in for a good bockwursting.
When you have kids, typically they start out as infants, and communication is conducted as a sort of one-way stimulus with heavy guesswork. They cry, you run through the standard four needs: sustenance, cleaning, sleep & physical contact - then you just start trying shit, and you run with whatever seems to work. I wish they spoke a lot sooner. I know that there are scads of people mesmerized by the "ga-ga goo" baby phase of infancy and it's inherent cuteness, but I am decidedly not one of those people. I am ready for the kids to talk about six weeks after they get here. I felt that way with Max, I feel that way with Abby. You reach those points of wire-thin patience and fist-clenching frustration where you want to look at the kid and say, "Just tell me what you need and I'll do it!" Being a parent teaches you to actually listen to other people in a new way, and believe me, it's mind-blowingly great when the kids finally talk, when they actually convey, with words, so you don't have to guess, what they need or are thinking, or both.
Tonight, as I'm putting Abby into her cozy little seat which she will not sleep without, I kiss her goodnight and stroke her hair and rock her a little and then say, "Bye-bye Abby. Goodnight." This is the standard arrangement. She broke protocol tonight, though. "Dada no no bye-bye." Six syllables, all put together, broadcasting a need. So I stayed. Of course I did. You would, too. I sat there in the mostly dark with her and rocked her and talked to her until she closed her little eyes and took the first really deep cleansing sleep breaths, and I touched her fine blonde hair and swelled internally with love and pride and all the good parts of having kids.