Your Child's Brain in Week 89 When your child started spouting
his adorable first words—"mama!" "doggie!" "gone!"—there was
logic behind why he chose those the ones he did. You may
remember that your child's interest in an item ("ball"), its
relevance to his life ("juice"), and how he could control its
quantity ("more!") all affected which words he latched onto
first. Causality, too, affected your toddler's inaugural
utterances. Children at one year are highly interested in cause
and effect, so "there!" and "uh-oh!" may have made brief
appearances early on. During the second half of your child's
second year, you might hear your little one say "gone!" as you
play hide and seek together. Or you might hear him say "there"
as he uses a string to pull a toy toward him. Scientists
wondered (as perhaps you have) which comes first—a child's new
skill, or the word he uses to describe it. What the Research
Shows Researchers launched a longitudinal study with 13-month-
olds, whom they followed for six months. Throughout