TURNING 2 SOON - KEEPING TRACK OF DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

Vonn Kaleb is turning 2 in a few months. Already?! It seems like it was only last week when I gave birth, three days ago when I had a newborn, the other day when I had an infant, and yesterday when I baked his 1st birthday cake... and now a toddler onto his terrible 2s?! Gosh, where did the time go?

Anyway, I thought I'd check which milestones my precious son has reached so far, and according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, here is what most babies do at 2 years of age (please bear in mind that Vonn Kaleb is only 21 months at the time of writing):

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL

✔ Copies others, especially adults and older children

✔ Gets excited when with other children - *Not so much, but his social skills have improved a lot since we came back from our recent vacation in October.

✔ Shows more and more independence

✔✔✔ Shows defiant behavior (doing what he has been told not to) - *Amen! Preach on, brother! Vonn Kaleb has actually been showing defiant behavior for a while now... #terrible2

✔ Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include other children, such as in chase games - *He does parallel play with other children, and like I've mentioned above, there really has been a noticeable improvement in his social skills that even other people took note of it. I have yet to see him play "chase games" with other kids, but he is starting to be more interactive now with other children in a playgroup setting.

LANGUAGE/COMMUNICATION

✔ Points to things or pictures when they are named - *He's been very good at this, and he just keeps on getting better and better, and his vocabulary is growing each day.

✔ Knows names of familiar people and body parts - *He can now say "mommy." Finally! The way he says it is kinda funny and cute at the same time because his pronunciation of 'M' is 'B' (and this is for most of the M words he could say.) So "moo" is "boo", "me" is "be", and "mommy" sounds like "bombby" - yeah, there's a hint of M somewhere in there but the more prominent letter you'll hear is B. Interestingly though, he can say "ma" but for actual words beginning with the letter M, he pronounces B instead. Hmmm...*

 Says sentences with 2 to 4 words - *Although his comprehension is very good and bilingual I should say, his speech is somewhat behind. That kinda' get me concerned, so I spoke to a pediatrician I know and she advised me to wait and see until Vonn Kaleb is 2 years and 2 months. She told me that some boys just take their time and most of them they catch up - and this is also what my husband has been telling me. She told us that what she tells her patients is that if by 2 years and 2 months, if the child was still not talking as he was supposed to, then that's the time to consider evaluation and speech therapy. Since I was being antsy and anxiously worried by the delay in Vonn Kaleb's speech, Vince and I agreed to give him until 21 months, and seek help if he's still not talking at that time. Guess what, he started saying "daddy" and "baby" very clearly at 21 months! Well now he's still "bulol" (sorry can't find the exact translation of this Filipino word in English) and does not pronounce all the sounds/letters of words - like "moon" is "boo", "car" is "ca", "chips" is "chi", "chocolates" is "cho", "spoon" is "poo", "sky" is "ky", and so on, but what he used to say as "baba" for "bye bye" is now really "bye bye" and same goes for "hi." There are words which he enunciate very well like "go", "daddy", "baby", "puppy", "key," etc.

✔ Follows simple instructions - *He has been very good at this... and in two languages - Filipino and English.

✔ Repeats words overheard in conversation

✔ Points to things in a book

COGNITIVE (LEARNING, THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING)

✔ Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers

✔ Begins to sort shapes and colors - *Shapes, yes. Colors, hmmm... I haven't really paid attention if Vonn Kaleb has started sorting them - this is a homework for me.

✔ Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books - *This is our new hobby and source of entertainment. Hehe! He's very, very good at this, and Vince and I are so proud of our son. Like I said, Vonn Kaleb is still "bulol," but regardless, oh boy, he does know how to complete sentences, rhymes and songs. He can even recite the alphabet on his own with some cues and help from us, despite his delayed language skill. We're impressed with how awesome he is at this. ☻

✔ Plays simple make-believe games

✔ Builds towers of 4 or more blocks - *There are blocks everywhere in our house now.

??? Might use one hand more than the other - *He hasn't shown particular hand dominance yet, although when he was younger, he used his left hand more than the right. There's a lot of lefties in my side of the family (my father and two aunts are, and a number of our cousins, too), and my mom-in-law is ambidextrous, so we'll see ;) Me and Vince are both righties by the way.

✔ Follows two-step instructions such as “Pick up your shoes and put them in the closet.” - *Like I noted above, Vonn Kaleb has been very good at this - and in two languages.

✔ Names items in a picture book such as a cat, bird, or dog - *He can recognize and identify all the letters of the alphabet as well as numbers 1 to 5. 

MOVEMENT/PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

✔ Stands on tiptoe - *We really never encountered a problem with his motor skills. In fact, his motor skills develop quite advance for his age. He took his first baby steps at 11 months, and the funny thing with the way he walks is that he walks on tiptoes. Hehe! He was a "bear crawler" - he used his hands and feet (instead of knees) to crawl - so we called it the "Spiderman crawl." He runs more than he walks - and he is always running fast... like 60 mph or something like that. LOL.

✔ Kicks a ball - *He started doing this shortly after he turned 1. He has very good visual motor skills and coordination.

✔ Begins to run - *See note above ☻

✔ Climbs onto and down from furniture without help - *He has transitioned into a toddler bed now. Yay! Mind you, not just an ordinary toddler bed, but a pirate ship bed complete with mast and canon and lights and secret treasure compartment and all that. Hehe!

✔ Walks up and down stairs holding on

✔ Throws ball overhand - *See note above regarding "kicks a ball." Same goes here.

 Makes or copies straight lines and circles - *He does makes curvy lines with crayons but I have yet to see him actually write straight lines and circles.

Based on the above checklist, Vonn Kaleb seems to be on track with his developmental milestones. Other than his delayed speech, overall, it appears he is developing age appropriately. As I said, he is only 21 months at the time. Hopefully, by 24 months, he'd be talking two-word sentences, and at 3, he'd be fully caught up with his speech and social skills ☻ Regardless, I'm always so proud of my boy, and he makes me one very blessed momma! I love you, Vonn Kaleb ♥