Yeah, I am sure that I got my habit of repeating myself from my mom.
Not only does she do it herself (still), but I was just simply not allowed to have a voice growing up, period. So now, I feel that desperate need to be heard, and understood.
My husband zones out on me a lot, as that's unfortunately where our trigger issues really tend to click. His mom and I are a lot alike, and he really learned how to tune her out.
So I find myself in the position you're describing (with my husband, anyway), where I will tell him something either very basic, or important, and he will forget all about it because, I assume, he's not really listening.
Unfortunately, it's so difficult to decipher where my behavior has contributed to that particular scenario, and where it has just become a learned behavior for him.
I think that Kialua has the right idea, that working on the need for approval is key.
But at the same time, this particular scenario between my husband and I can be very detrimental when the "conversation" has to do with our son and his care, as he is just a very young, innocent little bystander who deserves to have parents who can communicate in a healthy manner about his needs and how to address them.
I can change my own behaviors and how I deal with my own triggers, and I can only hope that it will help my husband to change his.