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Skip to the 7 month appointment. I can run 37 miles nows and lift heavier weights. I also weigh 680 pounds

The clinic is the same clinic and the same clinic is the thing that doesn't change while everything inside it does. Lena carries Kimo through the waiting room and the carrying is 78 pounds and the 78 pounds is the number she feels in her arms and the number is more than 61 and the more is two months. Two months since the last visit and the two months is the thing that has been full — full of words and walking and the walking becoming running and the running becoming the thing Samuel said it would become. Lena is 680 pounds and the 680 is the number on the scale at home and the scale is the scale she stands on every Friday and the Friday is the day she tracks. She ran thirty-seven miles this morning and the thirty-seven is up from thirty-four and the three is the thing her legs found and the finding was on concrete and the concrete is the surface her feet know.

Dr. Parekh is in the exam room and the exam room is the room that has held every number and every number is a number that doesn't fit. Kimo is on the scale and the scale says 78 pounds and the 78 is the number Dr. Parekh writes and the writing is the thing she does with the pen and the pen is the thing Kimo watched two months ago. He is not watching the pen today. He is watching Dr. Parekh's face and the watching is the thing that is sustained and the sustained is five seconds and the five seconds is the thing that says he is reading and the reading is not the reading of a seven-month-old. The measuring tape says 41 inches and the 41 is up from 38 and the 3 is the inches and the inches are the thing that keep coming.

"Word list," Dr. Parekh says. The saying is the thing she asks for at every visit and the asking is the routine and the routine is the structure.

Lena pulls her phone and the phone is the thing that has the list and the list is the thing she has been tracking every day. The screen is bright and the brightness is the thing that shows the words and the words are the thing that are more than nineteen.

"Forty-three words," Lena says. The saying is the number and the number is the thing that is more than double and the double is the thing Dr. Parekh predicted and the predicted was five or six in a burst and the burst was not five or six. The burst was twelve words in one week and the week was three weeks ago and the three weeks is the thing that changed the chart.

"The burst came at six months. Twelve words in six days. Nail, wall, done, good — those were the old ones. The new ones: build, heavy, push, pull, up, here, there, fast, slow, hard, soft, break. Then a second burst ten days later — eight more. Cut, measure, fit, tight, square, level, plumb, frame. All construction words. Every word he's added in the last month is a word he heard on the site."

Dr. Parekh's pen has stopped. The stopped is the thing that Lena sees and the seeing is the thing that says the data has exceeded the container again and the again is the thing that is the pattern. Dr. Parekh looks at the list on Lena's phone and the looking is the looking of a doctor who is seeing a staircase and the staircase is the thing that is going up and the up is getting steeper.

"Forty-three words at seven months," Dr. Parekh says. The saying is the saying of a woman who is stating a number and the number is the thing that is on no chart and the no chart is the thing she has been building and the building is the thing that keeps getting bigger.

"The burst pattern held. Twelve words in six days, then eight more in four days. The gaps between bursts are shrinking. Three weeks between the first and second burst. The next burst — if it comes — should be in the next ten days. And it should be larger."

"What's his motor cognition doing?"

"Tool use. He picks up nails at the site and places them on the lumber. Not random — placed. He picked up Marco's tape measure last week and extended it and let it retract. He watches Walt chalk a line and then he drags his finger across the concrete. He tried to pick up the nail gun yesterday. I stopped him."

Dr. Parekh writes and the writing is fast and the fast is the thing that says the pen is trying to keep up and the keeping up is the thing that the chart can't do.

"Let me see him walk."

Lena sets Kimo on the floor and the floor is the linoleum and the linoleum is cold and Kimo doesn't say cold this time. He doesn't look down. He walks. The walking is not the walking of five months ago and the not is the thing that is visible. His stride is even and the even is the thing that has no wobble and the no wobble is the thing that says the ankles and the knees and the hips are aligned and the aligned is the thing that shouldn't be there at seven months. He walks the length of the exam room — fifteen feet — and turns at the wall and the turning is not the turning of five months ago. The turning is clean. No stagger. No reach for the wall. He turns and walks back and the walking back is the same even rhythm and the same is the thing that says the walking is his.

Then he stops. The stopping is at the midpoint of the room and the midpoint is the thing that is not random. He looks at the door. He looks at Lena. He looks at the door.

"Go," Kimo says. The saying is directed at the door and the directed is the thing that says he wants to leave and the wanting is the thing that is not a seven-month-old's wanting. It is specific. It is intentional. It is the word for the action and the action is the thing he wants.

"He's done," Lena says. "He said go. He wants to leave."

Dr. Parekh is still for a moment and the still is the still of a doctor who is watching a seven-month-old say go at a door and the saying is the thing that is accurate and the accurate is the thing that keeps exceeding the container.

"I'm moving his next appointment to three months," Dr. Parekh says.

"Two months isn't enough window anymore. The curve is changing too fast between visits. Three months gives us a chance to see if the bursts level off or if they keep accelerating. If they keep accelerating — if the word count doubles again in three months — we're looking at over eighty words at ten months."

"And the physical?"

"Seventy-eight pounds, 41 inches. The multiplier is holding at 2.5 times chronological age. Consistent. Predictable in its unpredictability. The physical is the line. The language is the staircase. And the motor cognition is the thing I don't have a shape for yet. Tool use at seven months. Intentional mimicry. Object-to-surface association. That's eighteen-month territory. Possibly twenty-four."

Lena picks Kimo up and the picking is 78 pounds and the 78 is more than 61 and the more is the thing she feels and the feeling is the thing that says he is growing and the growing is the thing that doesn't stop. She carries him out of the clinic and the carrying is 78 pounds on a body that is 680 and the 680 is the thing that makes 78 nothing and the nothing is the weight of a boy who is seven months old and walking and talking and picking up nails and saying go at doors and the saying is the thing that is right.

Kimo hums against her chest and the humming is the thing between words and the between is getting shorter.