The day both of us had been waiting for, finally arrived today. Anika was able to match certain words to certain objects (non-living, mostly) for about 2-3 months now. She could recognize airplane (we are right along the San Jose airport landing trajectory), chimes, and home. A week ago she started recognizing more objects, such as cuckoo clock, doggie (small stuffed barking dog), and Claude (David Wojtowick’s character from Cuddle for Claude). But somehow it was turning out to be difficult for her to recognize Mama and Daddy. Even after countless hours of Mom saying “Mama, Mama” while pointing towards her, and Dad trying to squeeze out the Daddy sound by repeating “daaa deeee”, Anika didn’t bother. Finally, today, with “Mama” came a distinct turn of the head towards Rachna, and with “Daddy” a turn-back towards me. Success. Lets hope it stays that way.