• Talk to them about simple observations.

• What sounds to expect.

• Explain what you are doing.

• Using correct grammar.

• READ to them!

You have made it through the first year with your little one, now here comes the easy part right?! HAAA not really. I have come to realize through my years as a parent and mostly as a Speech Pathologist that communication is the key to, well everything it feels like. Communication can be tricky though. Many times we have these expectations that our children are given to us with a dictionary in their head and miraculously they will be able to use all of their words on their own. Can you imagine if that were true?! Whoa that would be interesting!

As awesome as it would be for your 1-2 year old to have a plethora of vocabulary, the truth is…it’s up to you to foster and nourish their speech and understanding development. Between the age of 1 year and 2 years there are a few things that you should begin to see and expect from your little one.

Simple Observation

In the area of Hearing and understanding you will see them begin to identify body parts on themselves on others or toys. They will follow single directions like throw the ball or give me high five etc. They will begin to respond to simple questions for example Where is daddy?, Where are your shoes? Who is that? They may begin to point to objects in a book when you name them. For example if you say wow look at the baseball they may point to it. It is such an exciting time to see them begin to blossom and really show us that they are understanding what you are talking about. This is such a good time to teach them how to communicate and understand the world around them. Not only are they beginning to understand all of this, but then you get them speaking. To hear their first words start to become clear is just magical. As a speech pathologist, I am so incredibly fortunate to be able to hear this soooooo many times, not just with my own kiddo. Let me tell you, it is incredibly beautiful to hear. To be able to praise them, giving them the reassurance that you understand them and are excited for them to be using their words. As I have said before, most little ones want to feel included and when they start to understand that they are using words and are understood by others, they light up.

What sounds to expect

Around this age you begin to hear a lot of words begin to be used, I am talking 50 plus words. These little ones are truly amazing and they surprise you at times with how many words they have. It is important to remember that at this point they will still understand more words than they say. In addition to having more words, they are clearing up some of their sounds.

The sounds that you will hear become more clear are:

• p sound

• b sound

• m sound

• h sound

• and w.

Books are our friend and your little one will start to name different pictures they may see and ask you questions like “What’s that?, Who is that?, Where is doggy?” It honestly might not sound like that, it may sound more like, “What dat? Who dat? Where doggy?” But getting to hear those little strings of words is magical. The should be starting to put together 2-3 words together…like more milk, no ball, mommy book, etc. More more and more words will start to emerge. They are like tiny computers that continue to receive updates by the minute.

How to keep your baby updated

In my head I imagine a picture of a baby with a little update bar on their head that is continuously updating. So in order to foster and develop a child’s understanding and speaking communication there are several things that you can do. One of the awesome things is, is that you do not need many “tools”.

To begin expanding your little ones communication skills:

1. Talk to them as you are doing things. You can say what you see, what you smell, what you hear, why you are doing something. You can explain to them how something might feel and describe textures, let them get in on the fun also. It is important to get all of their senses involved.

2. Use correct grammar. When you are describing something, we have to remember they will imitate what you say and how you say it. As you are speaking to them, and you do want them to imitate it, you can shorten the phrase that way they are more likely to be able to repeat it. An example is, “I see a cow! Cow says moooooo. That’s a big cow!”

3. Keep on reading! Just as stated in the last blog and video it is so important to read to your little one everyday, show them pictures, point at them describe what you see. If they give you one word add another one to it. An example is your little one points to the cow and says moo, you say “That’s Right!!!! A cow!!! The cow says mooo!” Well I don’t have books….time to get creative…use the sounds around you. “I hear the clock, it says tick tick tick. I see a dog it is panting it sounds like h h h h h. I hear a car it went rrrrr-rrrrr-rrrrrr or beeeeeeep beeeeep.” Ask your little one where the sound is coming from, “Where is the clock?” Have them point at it. “The phone is ringing it sounded like riiiiinnnnnngggg riiiiinnnnggggg, where is the phone?!”

Once again modeling good grammar and use whatever language you are most comfortable with. If you are comfortable and confident your child will be also. It is never too early to use more than one language either. Remember that all children develop at their own rate. They truly are like a garden, some sprout early some take a while but they all get growing… in the right environment.

I once again am very grateful to you if you made it to the end of this. I realize that there are tons of resources and I am excited that you are using mine. I stand with you in fostering your child’s understanding and language development. Thanks for reading!

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