S-T-O-P

In the first few months of Anthony coming home his language acquisition was problematic. He spoke very few words at 18 months old, but had improved by the time we went to his two year well child visit. Since then A's language skills have continued to increase and, thankfully, is no longer an issue.
This summer we've been working on our letters and numbers on a daily basis. Life is A's classroom and he's constantly asking questions and absorbing everything that surrounds him. I noticed this one morning when we were at the grocery store and he asked me why there was a big 5 on the sign. As I looked around I saw our shopping trip through his eyes. There were letters and numbers everywhere. We ended up quickly finding our needed items and then spent the rest of our time going up and down every aisle learning and having fun.
This grocery trip started our learning time during our morning walks too. We've been working on directions - left, right, forward, backwards - as well as our letters and numbers too. Anthony likes to point out a sign coming up and then say the letters he sees. Obviously STOP is a common one that gets spelled out frequently. S-T-O-P spells stop.

Last week I jokingly said, "S-T-O-P daddy!"
Right away Anthony asked me, "Why did you ask daddy to stop saying that, mom?"
Of course I got all excited, made a big deal of it and showered him with kisses. It was so exciting to hear him recognize his first word and to know that he's come so far.
I really have been amazed at how much he's learning just by observing and asking questions. It is fun to see just how much he takes in, remembers, recalls and connects to new learning. Thankfully his language and comprehension skills are a far cry from the path he was initially on. All of this makes me excited for his first year of preschool and the learning that will take place.