Like a baby, Goo Goo Gaa Gaa The Baby Talk Dictionary and Phrase Book is the result of a fortuitous meeting, a pleasurable experience, months of development and seemingly endless hours of labor - although not necessarily in that order.

In this case the pleasurable experience came before the fortuitous meeting. One summer afternoon, Peter Gaido took his six-month-old son to his first baseball game. In the sixth inning, as father was explaining to son the intricacies of the double switch, something suddenly struck him. It was a baseball, not an idea. A screaming foul ball had hit Peter right on the head.

Aside from a bruised cranium, Gaido was fine. He noticed, however, that his son was no longer cooing and gurgling unintelligibly, but rather he was speaking in fully formed sentences. When his son said that he didn't care about the batting averages or the double switch, but wanted to go to the concession stand again, Gaido realized that his baby's seemingly nonsensical noises were actually another fully formed language. A language which he now understood.

When Gaido found himself comprehending the jargon of other babies as well, he knew he was on to something. In due course, Gaido began speaking the language he dubbed "BABY" and became its first known adult speaker. Blessed with this facility, he sought out a means to take advantage of his talent. He joined the circus and became known as "The incredible BABY Talking Man." The act never gained much popularity, and after a run-in with the bearded lady, Gaido was expelled from the circus. Out of a job, and with little direction, he realized that rather than try to profit from his gift, the true value would come by imparting it unto others. The idea of a dictionary and phrase book took hold.

The only problem was that Gaido was not a formal linguist or lexicographer. He needed a professional to bring the BABY Talk Dictionary to fruition. He found Marc Jaffe instead. Gaido spotted Jaffe talking to a statue in a local park. Thinking that if Jaffe could communicate with the seemingly silent icons, then perhaps he could understand BABY. Sure enough, Jaffe was working on his doctorate in obscure languages. All he had left to do was convince an accredited university that there should be a degree in obscure languages. Jaffe was thrilled with the possibility of BABY, and immediately set about to do the research that would garner his doctorate.

In order to familiarize himself with BABY, Jaffe isolated himself on a tropical island with 18 volunteer babies and only a volleyball for adult companionship. Two weeks later, he returned a changed man. He still couldn't understand BABY, but now he didn't even want to. That's when Gaido hit him in the head with a baseball. Jaffe immediately began speaking BABY, and the BABY Talk Dictionary was about to become a reality.

Gaido and Jaffe went on to observe and note, research and record for many long hours to cull the most useful words of the baby language. Goo Goo Gaa Gaa The Baby Talk Dictionary and Phrase Book is the result of that work. Through its publication they hope to fulfill a pledge made to their closest baby friends that they would bridge the communication gap. Here they hope to provide the translations adults need to become literate in BABY. And most importantly, they don't want you to have to get hit in the head with a baseball.