Your baby, 23 months 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 and older

As a parent, it is your responsibility to develop and build your toddler's self-esteem. Don't wait until your child is older to help him learn how special he is-start now if you have not already. Because everyone likes to be praised and acknoledged for a job well done, show your child will hugs, smiles and words of praise when he has done something well. Always try to focus on the positive and avoid negative feedback, when possible. Instead of telling your toddler what not to do, explain the correct method. Good communication skills will help your child's self esteem, confidence and relationships with others. Use kind words to get good results and build your child up. Smiles and happy facial expressions can also go a long ways towards developing your toddler's self-esteem.

Your toddler is very curious about the world around him! Listen to what your child has to say and always answer her questions. Toddlers often ask why the sky is blue or how to fix a broken toy. Most often, they do not understand how things work and we have to show them. Some toddlers will ask questions just to keep a conversation going. Your child might be able to respond to simple questions regarding their name, age, siblings names and colors, shapes and names of objects.

Children this age are more active than they have been and can actually begin to pedal tricycles. Remember to always provide a helmet to protect your child's head from falls. Your toddler can also throw a ball into a wastebasket or small hoop. Remember to give your child a variety of toys that encourage different types of development.

With the second birthday quickly approaching, you might notice that your child is ready to be toilet trained. Girls are often ready to train around two years old and most boys are ready around two and half. Do not rush toilet training and follow your child's lead. When you think that your child is ready to begin toilet training, make sure he knows the correct words. He needs to understand when he peed or urianted and pooped or had a bowel movement. Decide which words your family will use to describe these bodily functions. Make it easy for your child to toilet train by dressing him in loose-fitting clothes that are fast and easy to get down. Children often wait until the last minute to use the restroom and this will make it easier for him. Remember to praise your child when he uses the bathroom, but do not scold or punish for accidents or when he does not use the toilet. Encourage your toddler to sit on the toilet for a few seconds or minutes if they will, but it is best not to insist that your child sit on the toilet until he actually uses it because your child will soon become frustrated with sitting there.

Developmental Milestones - 23 Months Old

Physical

• Loves to climb
• Jumps well
• Runs well
• Can pedal a small tricycle
• Can throw a ball into a wastebasket

Intellectual

• Tries to ask questions during conversations
• Can answer simple questions
• Can put together a 4-6 piece puzzle
• Likes to read and turn pages

Emotional

• Likes to be with other children
• Does not share well
• Afraid of disapproval and rejection
• Interested in babies
• Likes to cuddle

Age Appropriate Toys

• Sand and water play
• Climbing toys
• Ride on toys
• Pretend play
• Dolls or stuffed animals
• Books
• Balls
• Alphabet toys
• Stringing beads
• Dolls
• Cars/trucks
• Dress up clothe

Comments:

Comments 26-50 of about 5328 for month 23
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scarlet begonia - Tuesday, 17 Jan
Hello fellow IAP'ers! It's been soooooo long!!!! I am finally getting a few breaks here and there at work where I can actually 'goof around'... sometimes. I just read the the last page worth of posts on this thread. lil - so glad to hear you are doing well. I have to admit I went through quite a rollercoaster of emotions in reading your posts! BUT, everything is fine and that's what matters. What a relief!

I can't believe our LO's will be 2 next month! For some of you in just a few weeks!! Time sure does fly by! Aly (and the fam) is doing great. She is still cute, smart and silly. Her personality is just blooming everyday. So much more interactive, talkative and playful. She loves to sing and perform and just be the center of attention AT ALL TIMES!! I think she's about 25lbs now. Not sure how tall but we will know that soon.

Aly is doing a lot at this age. SOme of which makes me so very proud and some that actually makes me nervous! She's starting to add! Yes.. ADD. 1+1=2. She knows all her numbers 0-9 and most of her alphabet. Most colors but she has trouble with blue and black (those crayons are so dark!) lol! She knows all her body parts in english and spanish and when I sneeze she says 'bless you mommy' and then says 'salud' (spanish way of saying bless you after sneezing). Anyway, she is making strides in her development. On the other hand, she has some rather nervous(?) habits... she cannot stand open doors. She must close them all and one habit she recently developed, biting her nails. She does it constantly and sometimes bites them too short. My husband and I will on occassion chew on a hang nail, but it's rare and random. I do not know where she is getting this from or what is causing her to do it. My husband and I have been under a lot of stress lately and I worry that as much as we try to ensure she is not affected by our stress level, she is sensing it and perhaps this is where her nervousness manifests from? IDK! It just seems too early for her to be developing these sorts of habits. Any thoughts, opinions, suggests are welcome.

I'll try to be on more often and actually contribute and hopefully become a part of the daily discussion on here again. I miss this place (and all of you) so much!! Ok, goodbye for now. Wishing you all and your LO's the very best! -Laura

lillhill79 - Tuesday, 17 Jan
Luv - sorry to admit I laughed out loud too. I have a tattoo of a flower on my butt, and the other day my while I was getting out of the shower, my older DD said 'such a pretty flower' and proceeded to sniff it. Awkward...

luv2bamama - Tuesday, 17 Jan
So my precious daughter last night was in the bedroom while I was getting my PJ’s on…as I took my bra off, she looked up and pointed at my sad, saggy, droopy boobs and said “eeeeeeewwwwwwww” and walked off. My husband is still laughing….

luv2bamama - Tuesday, 17 Jan
Lil—SOOOO happy your scan turned out good. You’re lucky you work in the medical field, because normally people don’t get in for MRi’s that quickly!

lillhill79 - Monday, 16 Jan
I'm SO happy to report that everything is fine. I had my MRI on saturday and just got the results this morning. No tumors or abnormalities at all! So relieved, great way to start the week. Now hopefully I can start sleeping again. Have a good week and thanks so much for all the support.

gretch - Friday, 13 Jan
lillhill - Hugs. Call your husband. I echo the other advise given. ana - Yes. Last month's posts had a few on this subject. To net out - it comes and goes and is normal. Still cannot pinpoint reason in Rory but ususally related to how tired he was when he went to bed. Lighter sleeper when overtired. Or if he has a cold coming on.

ana23pink - Thursday, 12 Jan
lil hope to god everything goes ok sweety, but if i was you and the way I am i cannot reassure or feel better until I talk to someone close, just keep positive because stressing yourself won't make everything better... i have a question regarding other 23 months, my daughter wakes up crying, don't know if she is having nightmares or not but she has done this a couple of times during the day and during the night, do any of your children do the same thing?

lillhill79 - Thursday, 12 Jan
Please excue the rambling vent session I'm about to begin. My brain is going a million miles per hour and I just want to get some of this out. Back story: Almost 2 weeks ago I found a lump in my breast. I have no family history of breast cancer or anything like that, but it was very sore so I decided to call and get an opinion of my OBGYN. She said since it's sore we should err on the side of caution and get it checked out. So I had an ultrasound (which came back normal, thank God) and some blood work done to test my thyroid and my prolactin level because I'm still producing breast milk a full year after stopping feeding Cort. So I hadn't heard back regarding my blood work so I called the office this morning. Talked to the nurse and she said my thyroid looked fine, and then she paused. I asked her what? And she said your prolactin levels are high. I said ok, what's high (they physician told me in the office last week that she absolutely didn't want my prolactin to be above 20)the nurse paused again, and then she said 'it's 59,but there's no physician notes' Ok, so she had to check back with the doc and call me back. About 20 minutes ago, the doctor called me herself and said that she's very concerned bc with that level it's most likely a tumor on my pituitary gland in my brain. 'Most of the time' it's benign, but still freaking me out. So she sent orders over and they're going to schedule me for an MRI soon. Since we talked I've been doing research like a mad woman (I work in a hospital, I have lots or resources) and I'm a bit surprised how many other 'symptoms' associated with high prolactin levels I have, but never put them all together. The next kicker is that my DH is out of town till Saturday for work. I really want to talk to him about this, but not really over the phone and he's stressed out enough too. Should I talk to him about it tonight and make myself feel better or wait till he gets home? Again, sorry so long and rambling.

gretch - Wednesday, 11 Jan
We have had food strikes too. Especially around illness. If greatly concerned, you could consider giving vitamins? When Rory starts getting picky, I start gving him beans more. He loves them. Great northern beans right out of the can. Slightly warmed up. Loves them. I figure it is carbs and protien. He is starting to overlook veggies but is good with fruit. I need to get a bit more creative with my cooking! I hide veggies in pesto sauce. Blend in carrots or peas. But need some new tricks.

luv2bamama - Tuesday, 10 Jan
Karen; Colleen went on a food strike a few weeks ago; the only thing she would eat for about 2 weeks was minimal fruit and milk. I just figure she isn’t in a growth spurt, and she will eventually get hungry enough to eat. Also, a while back when she had a cold, she stopped eating and the Dr. said it would pass and sometimes when these little guys don’t feel 100% they just don’t want to eat and not to worry about it.

lillhill79 - Monday, 9 Jan
Luv, that's so cute. It's amazing how they learn things, for example - both of my girls know how to carry a purse - but I don't carry a purse, I still only stick with the diaper bag, so who knows where they picked it up from.

luv2bamama - Monday, 9 Jan
Karen; that is such a cute idea! Yeah, we don’t plan on doing too much; until she starts asking for a party, I’m happy with just a few family members and friends. Last year I made cupcakes and we served my hubby’s famous BBQ chicken and just hung out for a few hours.

luv2bamama - Monday, 9 Jan
So, my child (Lord help me-she is a smart cookie)…occupied herself this weekend while my husband and I were talking to his dad about closet organization…she came out to us from our bathroom looking like a clown, and very proud of herself, might I add! She, apparently found a tube of lipstick in my bathroom drawer and painted her mouth all over. Surprisingly, she only put it on/around her lips. She carefully had put the cap back on the tube and put it back in the drawer. Even more scary is the fact that I’ve only worn lipstick 2 or 3 times since she was born, so we have NO idea how she knew that it goes on the lips only!

lillhill79 - Monday, 9 Jan
Ok, I need some suggestions. And to preface this, yes I've probably lost my mind. I'm going to be flying from KC to Tampa with both girls (and all our luggage) by myself in February. I need some suggestions to help keep them occupied on the flight. The older one (3.5yo) I'm not as worried about, she'll sit and watch a movie on my laptop, but not sure how I'm going to keep Cort contained without her going crazy (and me too) Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a direct flight out there, so we'll have about 3 hours on a plane, 1 hour break to eat lunch and switch planes and then another 2 hour flight. I think I'll pack some coloring books, and movies, but not a clue what else. suggestions?

lillhill79 - Monday, 9 Jan
Karen - that's adorable. I think we're just going to do pizza and cake at Grandma's house for Cort again this year, keep it super easy while I still can. We're leaving on vacation the week after so I'm not wanting to add any stress.

gretch - Wednesday, 4 Jan
This past weekend, I went to one of Rory's daycare mate's Birthday Partiy. My first as a new Mom and it also made me realize that my kid's birthday was coming up. Eesh. Back to the Birthday - it was held at a franchise called Catch Air. Must be like a Monkey Joe's. Basically a padded room filled with kiddies jumping , running, crawling on padded things. Jumpy Castles, Ball and Balloon Rooms. I don't know who was more scared - me or Rory. He did warm up and cautiously played around. Not a fisrt adopter at all. Kind of like me. But strange to see in your son! We perservered and had a good time. Made me realize I was clueless about what kids do these days and I need to get with it. For Rory, like Christmas, we are going to keep it to family. Just not ready yet for a big deal. I will do little gift bags for the daycare boys and girls.

lillhill79 - Tuesday, 3 Jan
I'm here Karen. Happy New Year! Had a sudden realization this weekend that it's less than a month till Cort's birthday, guess I should start giving that some thought, huh?

citymami - Saturday, 17 Dec
glad Abbie doing well Racho....I want another baby but can't afford either, for at least 2 or 3 years I reckon, not sure if that will ever happen... Instability financially and just general lack of security these days sucks! OK going to 24 months to write more since you all cleared out of here!

racho - Saturday, 17 Dec
so my lil sis had her baby, a boy, on Dec 8th! My little nephew, oliver, is so adorable! My sis had some issues after birth and was taken to an OKC hosp so mom has had custody/guardianship of Oliver. Which means I get to see him way more often than I thought! He is adorable ( 7p9ozs at birth and 20 inches long) It only makes me want a baby even more...I love my 2 girls but want to try for my boy! But I know the timing isnt right and we cnt afford a 3rd child yet so I guess I will just enjoy my nephew Oliver to the fullest! In the meantime, miss Abbie will be 2 in just 4 days. She has grown and overcome so much that i have mixed emotions about her being 2...I cnt believe she is 2 already

mybabysuprise - Saturday, 17 Dec
Citi, mason's preliminary results were not good. Shesaid something was almost causing a complete blockage.in addition, he has some sinus disease.US doctors have a hard tie changing their minds or accepting theymisdiagnose a lot.I'm glad your pain meds are worming. How is Anderson handling everything? Lilmum, mason is also 26.5 lbs and 34 1/2 inches.

citymami - Friday, 16 Dec
MyBaby when Anderson went for a CT scan due to macrophely (large head lol) they wanted to check for hydrocephalus primarily because he'd be violently sick lots at the time, well of course it was proven he just had genetics for a large head, but I was there when the scan was done, and also back on the ward when a senior paediatrician came and read the preliminary results...anyway, as soon as the CT scan is done they can see if the brain looks normal or not pretty much right away, because the tech leaned out and told me it looked normal...I didn't get the final read on the results until I followed up with his regular paediatrician when I could get in like a couple of days later, they just pulled it up on the computer and said yeah it's normal... So actually not hearing anything, I certainly wouldn't worry about that at all. It's funny because I'm suffering from what I think is sinus type problems atm, and was just freaking myself googling it because I have this pressure behind one of my eyes, and then all these stories of people with tumours started popping up and then I checked myself and didn't let myself read it. From all the stuff he's suffered from sinus would make sense, I think it may be more common in kids that have had ear problems too... Funnily enough when we went for the CT scan we were stuck there for so long coz it was one machine for adults and kids at Columbia Presbyterian in NYC and it was there that the doctor told me he was 80% certain Anderson had MRSA as a result of spending so long in the busy ER and on the CT scan machines (couldn't get him sedated and still so had to try again and again)..anyway when I went for surgery I was swabbed for MRSA and guess what negative, and I think Anderson is negative too. Anderson was never swabbed for MRSA but they had me worried sick saying they were almost certain what looked like a staph infection had to be MRSA - I remember it was two youngish doctors together, got the impression from their wonderful bedside manner neither of them had kids. It would be interesting to see how the UK handled Mason's health problems, USA has some amazing doctors and specialists, but sometimes I don't think they're the best at looking at the bigger picture, it's like they get stuck in their micro specialisation's... sometimes I think it causes parents to worry unnecessarily. As always Mason's in my prayers. As for me I'm doing good not too much pain, but all the drugs I've been on have left me with this nasty dry hangover feeling without the fun from the night before :/ The boobs look higher and smaller and my nipples are now smaller, can't feel a thing in the nipples though!

SuperMomTo3 - Friday, 16 Dec
Thanks for the birthday wishes. We ate at a mexican resturant called Alfredo's. It is one of my favorite places to eat. Okay ladies time to move on up to 24 motnths.

lilmum2002 - Friday, 16 Dec
How much do your lo's weigh? Kayla was weighed last week and was 26.5 and I was just wondering if that's normal. And Rubes and Rls have you guys decided on definite boy names for your new ones?

lilmum2002 - Friday, 16 Dec
Mybaby- you and your Mason sure are strong people! I hope it's nothing serious and the brave little guy gets better soon.

mybabysuprise - Friday, 16 Dec
I'm worried that mason's dr didn't call with his final results. Iknow she has them. Now I'm scared he has cancer or a tumor or something

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