YOUR TODDLER´S DEVELOPMENT: BUILDING VOCABULARY

One thing about most two-year-olds: You can't get them to shut up. Your toddler is constantly talking, talking, talking. Your child wants you to understand her experience, just as she herself is beginning to make sense of it. So she is constantly trying to communicate with you

Your toddler's language skills expand dramatically in this third year. On your child's second birthday, she probably spoke around 200 to 300 words. By her third birthday, your toddler's vocabulary will jump to well over a thousand different words! What's more, vocabulary becomes a focus for your toddler's curiosity. Your two-year-old wants to be able to say more and understand more—and to do that, she needs to learn more words.

Childproofing

Early or precocious use of language is not necessarily a sign of your child's superior intellect. Likewise, comparatively slow mastery of language skills does not necessarily indicate inferior intellect. Remember that Albert Einstein didn't speak until very late in his toddlerhood.

Early in the third year, your child will employ language as one of her play materials. She'll use it just the same way she pounds and pounds on play dough: to come up with different shapes and see what she can make. Your child loves chanting, singing, and speaking the same words (or even just sounds) over and over again in a sing-song way.

Around her second birthday, your child may begin to put together two or three words to communicate a simple idea. At first, she'll sound like an old Western Union operator sending a telegram: "Dada, ball (STOP). Sara play (STOP)." But soon, your child will put together three-, four-, and even five-word sentences.

These sentences become increasingly complex throughout the year and may even begin to contain more than one idea. By her third birthday, your toddler may be telling you "stories"—perhaps narrating her life story to you, just as you did to her when she was younger. (In fact, if you listen closely, you might hear echoes of yourself and your partner as your child adopts some of your most-used phrases.) And, of course, your two-year-old will also ask you questions—incessantly.