Babbles to gain attention

Makes eye contact to communicate

Makes a variety of sounds such as growls, squeals, and raspberries

Watches speaker’s face when talking

Reacts when told ‘no’ and responds when name is called

Babbling has repeated sounds (e.g., bababa)

Uses sounds, gestures, and body movements to communicate

Your child uses 2 to 6 words

Babbling includes different sounds such as h, d, b, m, t, g, s, w, n, k, p

Follows basic directions with gestures

Enjoys people games such as peek-a-boo

Copies actions and sounds

Your child uses approximately 50 words

Uses two-word combinations (e.g., ‘more juice’, ‘no ball’)

Can answer simple questions (e.g., What is this?)

Can point to body parts when asked

Your child uses approximately 200 – 300 words

Understands directions with location words ‘in’ and ‘on’

Uses prepositions (e.g., in, on, or under) and location words (e.g., up, down)

Makes a choice between two objects (e.g., Do you want water or milk?)

Answers ‘where is?’, ‘what’s this?’ and yes/no questions

Asks questions with raising intonation and ‘What’s that?’

Uses pronouns: I, it

Is understood approximately 50% of the time

Your child uses approximately 450 words

Begins to use grammatical markers such as adding -ing to verbs (e.g., running)

Uses words ‘in’ and ‘on’

Uses pronouns: my, me, mine, you

Knows size (big/small) and number (one, two) concepts

Your child uses approximately 1000 words

Uses sentences with three words

Is understood approximately 75% of the time

Uses pronouns: your, she, he, yours, them, her

Uses colour words and can describe size (e.g., big vs small)

Can follow directions with two parts (e.g., Get your shoes and put them at the door)

Responds to Where…?, What’s that?, What’s it doing?, and Who is…? questions

Uses: ‘Where’, ‘What’ and ‘What…doing?’ questions

Your child uses approximately 1600 words

Uses sentences with 4 words

Provides answers to ‘when’ and ‘how many’ questions

Uses pronouns: herself, himself, itself, ourselves

Is understood approximately 75%-90% of the time

Understands concepts: empty, a lot, beside, between, behind, around