18

          The second year of your toddler's life is an exciting one filled with energy and new discoveries about whom she is and what she can do. As large muscles become stronger and small muscles more coordinated, a new range of activities opens up which includes running, jumping, climbing, scooping, and pouring. You'll see your toddler's vocabulary grow each day, and soon, she will put two or more words together. She will enjoy times of "conversation" as you attentively listen and respond to what she is trying to say. You may also notice that she is able to remember more and more.
          Play times will take on a new dimension as she begins to "pretend" and understand symbols. However, playing may also produce some frustration as she struggles with ownership and self-control. Take heart-these are ways she is forming her identity and independence, and with your encouragement and guidance she can learn to share and take turns.
          Amazing things are happening in the brain during this time. New circuits are building which allow her to have more coordinated movement; the cerebellum is maturing, which helps her timing; more connections are forming in the cerebral cortex to help give her a better understanding of language; and associations are forming in the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes which enable her to pretend

What's Going On:Motor Coordination
            You may notice that your toddler is becoming very energetic. Movement is extremely important to many toddlers' sense of well being, particularly in the 12 to 24 month period. Providing safe areas for movement where he is not cramped or confined to a seat may make you both happier and reduce the number of tantrums. Your little one needs the freedom to move about indoors as well as outside. It is important to allow him plenty of opportunities for movement in a safely arranged space where he can use the large muscles in his body (gross motor skills). This allows him to explore his surroundings, refine his coordination, release some of the energy that keeps him on the go, and develop new motor skills such as running, jumping, and climbing. Each new motor skill he practices develops out of previous skills as neural circuits in the brain become more highly coordinated and muscles grow progressively stronger. These new skills also contribute to his sense of mastery and growing feelings of competence.
             You will also notice he is gaining more control and coordination with the many small muscles in his fingers, hands, and wrists (fine motor skills). Drawing, buttoning, poking, and using utensils are all ways of exercising fine motor skills. This slow but steady increase in hand control is related to the continuing development of motor systems in the brain and to the opportunity to practice such fine motor movements.
             During the second year of life, the brain's motor systems continue to be highly influenced by myelination. Myelin is a dense, fatty substance that helps neurons send and receive messages faster and more clearly, so that motor circuits in the brain gradually become better at controlling and coordinating movements. Another feature of brain development that contributes to your toddler's improving motor skills is the development of the cerebellum, an area of the brain important in the timing and coordination of most motor tasks.
             Practice is also critical for your toddler to improve his fine motor control and coordination. The more he practices these skills, the better tuned the motor circuits in his brain will become. Your little one may show preferences for some activities over others. All sorts of fine motor activities will provide feedback to the toddler's developing brain and motor system.

What You Can Do: Motor Coordination
· Have inside and outside play times with plenty of room to crawl, walk, run, and jump.
· Create a soft indoor play area using pillows, mats, and mattresses.
· Provide large blocks and blankets for building forts and other indoor play structures. With safe "obstacle courses" and challenges, your toddler will be less likely to find ones that are not safe.
· Provide toys and materials such as, crayons and paper, dolls and doll clothes, nesting toys, play dough, snap together blocks, small blocks, small toy figures and cars that foster opportunities to practice fine motor skills. As always, be aware of safety with toys, and have appropriate adult supervision.
· Provide opportunities to grasp, hold, pour, scoop, squeeze, and otherwise manipulate a variety of safe materials. Sand boxes, water basins, and play dough are great for this.
· Provide eating utensils for self-feeding and opportunities which allow toddlers to serve themselves snacks and drinks.
· Let your toddler watch you writing or drawing a picture: observation and subsequent imitation are powerful teaching tools.
· Allow your toddler to turn the pages of books as you read with him - thicker paged books, such as board books, work well at this age.

What's Going On:Language Development
                Toddlers vary greatly in their paths to understanding and using language. The number of words a toddler uses between 18-24 months of age is related to many factors, such as whether your toddler is a boy or a girl, outgoing or shy, or part of a small or large family, just to name a few. It is not unusual for many (though not all) girls to be ahead of boys in their use of words and expressive language skills. Likewise, if your toddler is more social and outgoing, he or she may use more words and be more "talkative" than if your little one tends to be quiet or shy. Also, being an only child may mean that, more often, adults offer a chance to converse; whereas if a toddler is one of many, siblings may "talk for" him or her. These are just a few reasons for the variety among toddlers in their use of words. Between 18-24 months of age, most toddlers say around 50 words. Your toddler may say more words earlier or may not produce 50 words until closer to 24 months-all of which is "normal" development. The important thing is that you notice an increase every month in the number of words your toddler says. If you suspect a language delay, share your concerns with your pediatrician. After your little one begins using about 50 words, you may notice a "vocabulary explosion." New words are spoken every day. Interestingly, researchers have noticed that this vocabulary explosion occurs at about the same time as an increase in the number of synapses (connections between brain cells) occurs in an important language center of the brain known as Wernicke's area. (Wernicke's area plays an important role in the understanding of word meaning, and in most people is located on the left side of the cerebral cortex.) You may also notice her putting two words together, such as "more juice" and "fall down."
          Once again, there is a wide range as to when different toddlers begin to do this. While most start combining words somewhere between 18-24 months of age, some begin doing so as early as 14-15 months and others as late as 24-26 months. Your role as a parent who listens to and talks with your toddler continues to be very important during this 18-24 month age period. It is known that the amount and quality of language that is used in conversation with children during late infancy and early toddlerhood influences their rate of verbal development. Language is perhaps the area of development most open to intervention and most flexible in its timeline for skill development. But if you are concerned, talk with your pediatric clinician or child care provider for guidance and suggestions about how you can help support your child's early language development .

What You Can Do: Language Development
· Listen to your toddler. Be patient and try to really understand what she is saying. Encourage her expression and don't speak for her.
· Talk with your toddler. One of the most important things you can do is be an active language partner. A special effort may be needed if she tends to be shy or quiet, and the conversation may be one-sided, but describe what she is doing and keep an open door for conversation.
· Repeat, expand, or restate what she says. This lets her know that you are listening and trying to understand what she says. · Read or tell stories to her each day.
· Use language play with your toddlers: rhymes, finger plays, poems, and songs that you read, recite, or make up.

Relationships and Emotions
What's Going On:Self-control
             Around 18 months of age, your toddler may display signs that she is developing an awareness of self. One of the signs of this growing awareness is the emergence of words like "me" and "I" in your toddler's vocabulary. Another, more difficult sign is the discovery of "mine." Along with this increasing awareness of self come issues of ownership and sharing-or more accurately not sharing. This possessiveness may seem quite strong at times as your little one constantly claims objects and toys as her own. In fact, this focus on ownership may be one way in which she comes to better understand herself as a separate person, distinct from others, and expresses her growing independence and autonomy. Though this expression may appear to be "selfish" and can be trying, once she becomes more secure in knowing what is and is not hers, she may begin sharing more readily with others. Self-control-which is also just beginning at this age-also plays a role in this task of sharing. It is very difficult for her to wait for even a few seconds in the presence of a much-desired object. Although she may understand you when you tell her not to take from others, she may have great difficulty stopping herself from doing it. This self-control comes with time and brain maturation, and in particular, development of the frontal lobes of the brain. This area of the brain is really beginning to work in a meaningful way in the second year, and will continue to mature throughout childhood and adolescence! There is a wide range of other feelings happening during this time. Sometimes these feeling can be very strong. She may feel very proud of a tower she has built but get very frustrated and upset when it tumbles to the ground, or even angry if someone topples it over. Also, budding independence is mixed with still wanting to be "the baby." She may want to do everything for herself one minute, but want you to hold her in your arms the next.

Relationships and Emotions
What You Can Do: Self-control
· Be patient and tolerant in your expectations of sharing. Provide a model of sharing in your interactions with family members and friends.
· Provide lots of guidance. Initiate games of sharing and turn-taking.
· Use distraction or redirection to calm or avoid disputes.
· Look for signs of tiredness or illness, as both can affect tolerance for sharing.
· Let her help you with sweeping, making a snack, or other work around the house so she can feel "big" while maintaining special rituals like a bedtime story to let her know she's still your "baby."
· Help her put her feelings into words, "You're frustrated that your tower fell. Why don't we build another one?".

What's Going On:Patterns and Routines
                    At this age, your toddler is beginning to understand that symbols stand for the objects and things he experiences. He may look at pictures of family members and identify a specific individual without confusing the picture with the actual person. You may notice that he will say "hello" to mommy on a toy telephone, pretend to eat a plastic cookie, or engage in other types of "dramatic play." This process of symbolic representation is still in its beginning stages, but it is the base upon which elaborate fantasy play will be built later. The growing ability to engage in abstract thought and play depends on association areas of the brain in the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes--areas that develop quite slowly. During your toddler's second year, his budding ability to think symbolically will take second seat to more basic sensory and motor experiences, such as pouring and sifting sand and climbing through tunnels. Hands-on experiences are still the best way for your little one to learn. Allowing him to experiment and providing a variety of sensory, motor, and pretend play opportunities is a great way to support his development. It is not necessary for you to "teach" him. Once your child has been given opportunities to explore and experiment, the memory of that experience can last for a surprisingly long time. Music is a great activity for helping memory. For reasons we don't yet understand, songs, rhythms, and chants seem to linger in young children's minds especially well. (Remember how you learned the letters of the alphabet?). Not only is it fun, but also the association of melody and lyrics encourages young brains to take hold and store the words of songs better than those of regular conversation. You may notice that his memory is very good in specific areas, like remembering animals from a trip to the zoo. However, he may have trouble understanding and describing that the trip was last week. Details of certain events seem to be more memorable than the timing of events. Conscious memory is still not fully up to speed. This probably reflects slow maturation of the hippocampus (a critical memory area of the brain, located in the temporal lobes) and its connections to the cerebral cortex. However, experiences that do stand out serve as an important base from which your toddler will construct ideas about the world around him.

What You Can Do: Patterns and Routines
· Provide a secure and supportive environment. Feeling safe, trusting, and comfortable will allow him to freely explore the environment. Cognitive growth comes from on-going exploration.
· Encourage exploration in an environment that provides a variety of sensory experiences such as sand and water, play-dough, finger paints, and bubbles. Always carefully supervise children during water play. · Provide props such as play telephones, plastic food, and hats. that encourage pretend or fantasy play. Encourage him by describing what he is doing.
· Resist pressure from others to "teach" specific academic skills such as colors and shapes. Your toddler will learn these readily if you refer to them in the course of your natural daily conversations. ("Do you want a red apple or a green apple?" or "Can you hand me the blue ball?").