John Legend Accidentally Scared Baby Esti When She Says “Da-Da” In This Sweet Video

As a dad of four, John Legend might find in the coming years that hearing his kids call for him will become a pretty regular occurence. Like “Dad, come help me” or “Dad, I’m hungry,” that kind of thing. But hearing that very first “Da-Da” from your baby girl... we can’t blame him for getting too excited and then accidentally making baby Esti cry. It was clearly an emotional moment.

Over the weekend, the “All Of Me” singer shared a video on Instagram of his 8-month-old daughter Esti, who he shares with wife Chrissy Teigen along with 7-year-old daughter Luna, 5-year-old son Miles, and 3-month-old baby boy Wren, babbling away. In the video, Esti sits on the sofa with her mom, who is holding baby Wren, and a nanny, babbling away and saying what sounds like, “Ma-Ma” to Teigen. And Legend makes it clear he wants in on the action.

“What’s my name?” he asks Esti, “Say my name.”

Teigen helpes her little girl along. “Is that Daddy? ‘Da-Da,’” she says, and Esti mimics her by saying “Da-Da” with a big smile on her face. Everyone cheers, especially Legend, adding, “We caught it on tape baby!” And poor little Esti breaks down in tears. She can’t handle the excitement, which Legend acknlowedges in his caption. “I got too excited and scared her,” he wrote.

Esti is now at that great age when babies start to recognize more people than just their mom. For the first few months, babies tend to prefer their moms simply because they recognize her voice so well and are accustomed to her smell, but by this age they might branch out a bit more. In fact, between the ages of eight and 10 months, babies start to mimic their parents and try to form words like “Da-Da,” especially when the people around them interact with them often. Which is exactly what Legend was doing here, although perhaps stopping just short of cheering might be a wise idea for the future.

As Esti gets older, she will of course be able to recognize her dad better and better all the time. He’ll even get to be “Daddy” or “Dad” at some point instead of “Da-Da.” But nothing quite compares to hearing it for the first time. Luckily, he will get to share that moment again with baby Wren in a few months. The benefit of having little ones so close together.