The boy is determined, I'll give him that.

Levi, who will be two in a month, has been improving his communication skills quite a bit lately. He's been speaking in sentences for probably three or four months, but up until the last month or so those sentences were pretty predictable. "Choo doing, Mama?"

"Hi Daddy! Ere going?"

And the longest, "Hot milk. Peese. Oooookay! Beeep!" Beep, of course, being his name for the microwave.

He's been getting better at pronouncing things, and in the last month has added many new words to his vocabulary. He's also gaining confidence and is willing to try saying new words, where before if you asked him to repeat something he'd just smile and shake his head.

So today I decided to try to get him to say his brothers' and sisters' names. A-doo (Andrew) was the first name he learned after Mama and Daddy, so Andrew felt pretty special, but I figured he could probably at least attempt the other kids by now. He's been calling Aspen "Buddy" for a few weeks, and he can say Lily now too.

The conversation went like this, as he was playing with his blocks:

"Levi, can you say Andrew?"
Big smile. "A-doo."
"What about Jaden? Can you say Jaden?"
He concentrated for a minute and said "Jay!" I could tell by the look on his face that he was proud of himself.
"Good job! Can you say Kendra?"
He didn't say anything for a minute, then "A-doo?"
"No, Kendra. Ken-dra."
He tried again, but I don't think I could repeat what he said. It's a hard name for a one-year-old, though, so I didn't push it at all.
"OK, Levi, can you say Aspen?"
Big grin again. "Buddy!"
"No, can you say Aspen? Aspen?"
"Buddy!"
"OK, Levi. One more time. Say Asp....en."

He looked at me very seriously, as if to say "Duh, mom," and very slowly said "Bud....dy."

Point taken. I'll leave it alone!