by Maria from California
The most exciting milestone was tracking my son’s speech. He has always been very expressive. Since he was a baby, he would let me know through his smiling, cooing, or crying that he was happy, excited, or upset. Now that he is 23 months, I am elated to hear him speak two or three words together. When he was between a year and a year and a half, I pointed out to him that he was not saying the ending sounds of his words. However, as soon as I found out that my corrections were discouraging him from trying to speak, I stopped. Instead, I just repeated the word slowly and clearly. Now, he speaks many words and understands even more.
As for my son’s physical development, I had a bit of a slow start. Looking back to when my 23-month old son was a newborn, I remember being anxious about tummy time. I did not want to give him tummy time when we first brought him home from the hospital. I was scared of placing him on his tummy since he was so fragile and his neck always needed support. However, my visiting nurse from Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) eased my worries. She explained that my son’s neck would actually grow strong through tummy time. At first, I placed him on his tummy for less than a minute. Any longer and my son would complain. I now know that all newborn babies complain about tummy time. Tummy time was a new activity that he was not comfortable doing. However, tummy time became fun once he could hold his head up and reach for toys with his hands. Having longer tummy times fully paid off. He learned to crawl and by 9 months, he was walking.
Now that my son is a toddler, his social skills have improved a lot. Recently, my family has been going to an acrobatics gym. The first time we went my son would go up to kids and shout. His way of saying hello I figured. My husband and I let him know that going up to kids and shouting is not okay. Each new time we go to the acrobatics gym, I can see my son learns to behave more appropriately with the other kids. The last time we went to the acrobatics gym a couple of kids and he played together.
About Maria
My family and I live in Ridgecrest, CA. We are about to welcome our second child. My focus is being a mom and wife. During my free time, I enjoy writing, watching movies, and sewing. I studied journalism in college.
Want more information on this topic? wichealth.org has a free online lesson series called Milestones Matter. Find all 5 lessons in this series on wichealth.org in the Understanding Developmental Milestones category!
I have started tummy time with my infant and he does not seem to enjoy it but he can stay longer periods of time now.