Tag Archives: development

C’s Vocabulary Explosion

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February has been the month of toddler vocabulary explosion in our household!  At first, I was keeping track of every word that C was saying.  Now he’s adding 2-6 words to his vocabulary each day, and I can’t keep up with the list anymore!

He stayed at his nana and papa’s for a few days last week, and I could not believe his word development when we picked him up this weekend.  He’s saying about 15 more words, including his sister’s name AND…

…he’s COUNTING TO SIX!  If we start with “one,” he’ll keep going until six.  I am seriously blown away by it.  He’s 21 months old, and I never thought he was paying attention to me when I count things with him.  I’m hoping to capture this on video this week so I can show you all – I’m just so blown away by it!

He’s also in love with electronics.  He tools away on our iPad and loves to play with our iPhones, too.  We’ve designated one of our super old iPhones for his use, and I happened to catch this happening yesterday.  Like father, like son. ;)

C and Hubster on iphones

Developmental Leaps

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Just in the past week, I’ve noticed so many changes in C developmentally.  He says “yes” or “no” to just about any question we ask him.  We can communicate even more with him now, and it’s so much fun!

Here are some typical conversations we’ve been having:

Me: C, do you want to go hang out with Dada all weekend?
C: Yeah! *big smile*
Me: Do you want to meet your new baby cousin, too?
C: Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Me: C, would you like cheese?
C: No.
Me: How about a banana?
C: No.
Me: Applesauce?
C: Yes!

Me: Did you have lots of fun with Dada this weekend?
C: Yes!
Me: Did you get to see your friends and play at their house?
C: Yeah.
Me: Was there a doggy there?
C: *nods* Woof, woof.
Me: Did you meet your new baby cousin?
C: Yeah!
Me: Did you like the baby?
C: Yeah!

It’s so much fun to talk with him!  And being able to ask him what he wants to eat instead of preparing seven different things is such a relief.  I’m so excited for more vocabulary development that is sure to come in the upcoming months!

Skipping Milestones?

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Have your children ever skipped milestones?

C never wants to sit down.  He always stiffens his body up to stand.  Whenever we’re lucky enough to get him to sit, he arches his back in protest.  He *LOVES* to jump and stand.  He won’t even roll over when on his stomach (even though he did that at 2 months of age…).  I’m not surprised that he won’t roll over from his back to belly because he has zero interest in being on his belly.  He ONLY wants to stand.  I have a feeling he will refuse to learn to sit or roll and just go straight to walking.

I don’t want him to be skipping milestones, but I’m finding it impossible to get him to practice supported sitting.  It’s his way or the highway and his way is on his feet.  Argh.

TV Watching is Detrimental to Babies’ Development

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Many of us already knew that babies should not be exposed to television aimed for adults (maybe you should watch Weeds after baby goes to bed…), but did you also know that even so-called “educational” programs can hinder a child’s development before the age of 2?

A new study found that babies at 14 months of age who watched one hour of television daily had developmental scores that were one-third lower than babies who weren’t watching that much television.  (Here’s an article about it on Yahoo.)  The result of sticking baby in front of the television results in delayed cognitive and language development.  While it may seem like an easy way to occupy baby while you get things done, it is actually very harmful to your baby’s development.  Other studies have linked television watching to increased occurrences of ADD/ADHD, obesity and aggression in young children.

I had been aware of the increased likelihood of ADD/ADHD, but until last night I was unaware of the decrease in cognitive and language development.  This makes me even more glad that I’ll be staying home with our baby at first, so that I can read to him and teach him things.  I know that there will probably be many times that I’ll desperately want to sit him in front of the television so that I can take a break or get some things done around home; but I’m hoping that in those moments I’ll be reminded of these studies.