May seek out a familiar adult when uncertain
Your toddler will have been using ‘social referencing’ for some time now, this means that they look towards you and other people in new situations to see how you feel about a situation and this helps them to decide how to respond.[1] They are secure in their attachment to those who look after them regularly and will use these people as a secure base when in unfamiliar situations.
Eager to be part of social interactions e.g., Laughs when others laugh
Your toddler has been interested in other people since they were born, and they have gradually developed skills to interact in different ways. They are now even more aware of the conversations and might join in, even if they don’t fully understand what is happening. For example, if you are chatting with friends and then everyone laughs your toddler might look at everyone and join in with the laughter.
Shows self-aware emotions such as embarrassment and pride
Your child has been developing their sense of self for some time, they will have recognised their reflection in a mirror and have been using their name to talk about themselves. This recognition of themselves paves the way for greater self-awareness including experiencing emotions such as pride, embarrassment and guilt.
Is more able to self-soothe when upset
Your child has needed your help to calm down when upset, and you and they might know what helps them to calm if they are upset. You might notice your child is sometimes able to soothe themselves when they are upset and might be starting to recognise what helps them to calm down. Self-soothing or self-regulating is a difficult skill and even as adults we sometimes need support from others to regulate. Although your child might be able to self-soothe sometimes, they might often still need your support.
Begins to look for and play with other children who like doing the same things as them
Your child has been interested in watching other children play for a while and might have been playing alongside children doing similar things. They will now look for other children who are doing things that they enjoy and will play with them. They might play with different children at different times, choosing based on what other children are doing rather than seeking out a particular child.
Needs a prompt to listen to you, but then can usually focus on what you are saying
Since birth your toddler has been listening to everything around them, from speech to environmental sounds. They have been making sense of these sounds and they rapidly began to learn that listening to and responding to language would provide them with meaningful interactions. Recently your toddler may have been listening to stories and will be engaging in two-way conversations.
Understands action words e.g., if you say, "Can you jump?" they will jump or try to jump
It is at that stage that your toddler will most likely understand more spoken words, be able to comprehend simple stories and follow simple commands. They will discover that learning new language can be enjoyable, and that it can introduce them to a fun, interactive world. Now that your toddler can not only understand language, but use it too, they will be increasingly interested in communicating in a variety of situations.[1]
Uses a word they know for all individual people or objects in a category, e.g. calls all men 'daddy'
Your toddler has been learning lots of early words and they most likely will have linked to family members, routines or objects that are familiar to them. They may be uttering two words phrases such as ‘uh oh’ or ‘bye bye’ and they may have started using a wider variety of words such as adjectives, nouns and some verbs.
Says first name when asked, "What's your name?"
Your toddler will have known and understood what their own name is for some time now. When they heard their name, they may have turned to look at you or they may have pointed at themselves when someone has asked where they are in a photo or when playing a game. Some toddlers talk about themselves using pronouns, such as I or me when they are communicating who they are and talking about what they have been doing.
Identifies objects by their function, for example if you say, "What do we sit on?" answers, "Chair."
Your child has been listening to language in many different formats, such as conversations, stories, tv programs and songs. They have come a long way since their development of language began; from listening to language, attaching meaning to language, saying first words to speaking using words and sentences. [7] They are starting to overcome their overextension of words (using one word to group a wide variety of objects) and are able to group objects in categories that make more sense.
