Your Toddler: Let's Talk About Talking!
Gone are the days when your toddler pointed and grunted like a cave man to make himself understood. These days he's using actual words! And not one of them is a curse word! (Not yet, anyway.) This year is huge for your kid's language development. He'll learn new words constantly and by the end of the year he'll likely have a vocab of 150 to 300. He'll start to patch together 2 or 3 word sentences and use prepositions like "in" "on" and "under." He'll understand simple directions like, "Hand me your cup" or "Stop hitting the dog" ... not that he'll follow them. He may start to ask "Why?" and "What Dat?" all the time. And nearly two-thirds of what your kid says will be comprehensible (to you at least, you may still have to translate for Aunt Edna). What you're thinking: "OMG! We just had an actual conversation!"
Ideally ...
Encourage your kid to use her budding verbal skills by asking "yes" or "no" questions. Ask her if she's a boy or a girl, if she'd like kale or broccoli for dinner (yeah, right!). Read More of Language Learning Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers.
Really ...
My son is about to turn 2 and he's not talking. Sure he says "mama" and "dada," but most 14-month-olds say those things too. We know he has a problem, but no one seems to agree. Read More of "Say Anything" by Ian Landau.
Everything you ever wanted to know ... and were just about to ask about learning to talk:
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All kids grow and develop at different rates. So please don't compare your toddler with so-and-so's from across the street—you'll just drive yourself nuts. If you have any concerns, bring them up with your pediatrician at your kid's next checkup.
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