29 MONTHS

Extracted from babycenter.com

Your 2-year-old now

What can a 2-year-old remember? More and more every day! He's developing a way of thinking called spatial representation or symbolic thinking. Basically it means he can see things in his mind's eye. As experience and habit create new connections in his brain, he becomes better able to call up these captured images: what a lost teddy looks like, the way to Grandma's house, the ice cream and cake served at the party yesterday. (Kaylyn can remember the day's events & relate/report to me whatever she's been doing. It helps especially when I'm not with her 24/7.) Help your preschooler lay down these memory tracks in the brain by asking questions about things he knows: "Hmmm, what will the bunny say goodnight to next?" Ask him to recall details: "Did you have vanilla ice cream or chocolate?" At night, review your day together: "And then what did we do?"

Your little one's a budding conversationalist, even if you're the one doing most of the talking. He's beginning to ask lots of questions, a development that fills two needs for him: It's a way of finding out about things, and it's also a way of keeping the interchange with you going. That lets him engage with you longer and pick up even more words.Early favorite questions include "Why?" (YEAH! That's Kaylyn's fav word right now.) and "What's that?" (That too!) (Or simply, "Dat? Dat?") As his language skills grow more sophisticated, so will his questions: "What's making that sound?" "What if the car went off the road?" "Why don't the birds fall down?"Try to answer his questions as quickly as you can, in simple, full sentences. "Birds have wings that keep them up in the air." Being responsive encourages future questions, and your answers help him learn from your example how to put sentences together. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know." Find a book on the subject to share.Your preschooler loves to answer questions as much as ask them. When you're reading books, ask about the pictures or the story: "Where is the brown doggie?" "What do you think he likes to eat?" "What will happen next?"