40 bucks and 6 pounds

When we got home from a quick trip to the grocery store yesterday, Kevin promptly began to empty the contents of the grocery bags. After he finished pulling out the last item, he picked up the receipt and said, "Forty bucks!" I wasn't expecting those words, so I asked him to repeat it. He looked at the paper one more time and said, "Forty bucks!" He had a big grin on his face.

Then, just this morning, he stood on the scale where I weigh him every now and again. After looking down, he said, "Six pounds!" I just smiled this time realizing that he pays more attention to what I say and do than I think. It sure is fun watching him learn every day.

Now a quick look back. About 4-5 months ago, Kevin started adding the same word after a lot of other words he was saying. I struggled to figure out what he was saying. Finally, I heard myself correct what he was calling an object by saying, "It's a ____, actually." Then he would repeat the correct word. The next time he said, " ackshee," I realized he was just mimicking me.

He still uses the word 'actually' or 'ackshee' quite frequently especially when he disagrees with me. For instance, he pointed to a minivan and said, "cuck" meaning truck, so I said, "It's a van." He looked at me defiantly and said, " Cuck, ackshee!" He soon relented and started pointing out all of the vans in the church parking lot.