Language Boom 2

When we first brought Travis home from China, he made rapid gains in language, learning the sign for just about every object he could see.  He learned a few basic concepts such as "soon" and "want." Later, he began retelling stories or books we signed to him.  For a while, he plateaued with his expressive language.  He would only answer questions if we prompted his answers or gave him choices.  He was understanding everything signed to him, but seemed to struggle to know how to answer.
Then, earlier this year, we saw a language boom.  He started telling us things that had happened in the past.  If he had a cut or bruise on his arm, he could explain what happened.  He began understanding that an event would happen so many days into the future and he enjoyed counting down the "sleeps."
Because he was still catching up his expressive language, we chose to keep him in Kindergarten for one more year.  He and Tian are in class together and it has been a great year.  Ken and I, as well as his teachers, have noticed a major improvement in his language.
5 weeks ago, his cousin was born.  When Travis first met him, he kept signing "cousin."  We explained that Malcolm was his name and that he was Travis' "cousin" just like Hannah is his sister, TJ is  his brother, and his dad's name is Ken.  He picked up on the theme and signed "family."  Yes! Family!  Malcolm was the first kid added to their family after them.  They were no longer the newest of the cousins.
Yesterday, Travis' class took a field trip to Sweet Berry Farm.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to join the class, but when I asked Travis to tell me about it, he proceeded to sign non-stop for the next 30 minutes!
Travis explained, in vivid detail, about the tractor ride, the hay, the crank that took the kernels off the corn cob, the pumpkins, the painting, what he ate and didn't eat at lunch, and turning left in the corn maze, following his teacher, KJ.  He punctuated every thought with "It was SO MUCH FUN!"
Tonight, I'm going to try to get a video of him talking about Sweet Berry Farm and will share it here and on YouTube.  It's way overdue!
Showing his pride after catching his first fish!

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