I always crack up at those Cars.com commercials that tell the story of the David Abernathy, the kid who had so much “extraordinary confidence” that, as a newborn, he congratulated the doctor on a perfect delivery. For some reason, I always imagine little L doing the same sort of thing.

Well L had a David Abernathy moment this morning, when she greeted me on her first Valentine’s Day with what sounded a lot like, “Hi, Da-Da.” Then she said it again.

Before you get all up-in-arms over my assertion, I admit completely that the baby likely didn’t utter her first word as part of a complete sentence. I also admit that the words “Hi” and “Da-Da” are fairly non-distinct; the kid could have been saying just about anything, including unintelligible blather.

Still, what if I really heard what I think I heard?

And if it really happened, for the record books (because you know we keep them in this house) was her first word “Hi” or “Da-Da?”

Powergirl and I have been discussing the issue all day. The more we chat, the more questions we unearth. We keep coming back to the role of the (adult) parents in the event of a first word. The $10 million question: How much of our interpretations are subjective (or, put differently, how much of what we hear is simply because we want to hear it)?

Since I’ve been searching for answers all day, I’d love to hear from some of you other parents out there. How did you know when your youngsters said their first full word? How frequently did you convince yourselves you heard something you may not have heard?

Finally, to what extent do you think it’s possible that L’s first intelligible English came in a sentence? Am I just a parts-of-speech nerd? Am I being presumptuous? Thanks in advance for your input.