Toddlers learn many new words and begin to form simple sentences. The number of words in a toddler's vocabulary expands rapidly. By 2 years of age, children typically begin to connect words, such as "go" and "bye, bye" to make the simple sentence "Go bye-bye." By 3 years, many toddlers are able to form a variety of sentences with three or four words.

Young toddlers both babble and use real words. Parents and caregivers will be able to understand a toddler some of the time, but they may have difficulty understanding the child on other occasions. People outside the toddler's family may also have difficulty understanding all of his words.

Toddlers can use language to imitate and to talk about pretend things and past experiences. As your toddler engages in pretend play, she thinks out loud and talks to herself. She also develops an ability to talk about past experiences in one or two sentences. This is important because it is the beginning of your child's understanding and production of stories.

Not all toddlers develop language in the same way or at the same rate. For example, some children tend to develop language in spurts, while others show more slow, steady growth. Not all children learn to talk in the same way. Some learn to speak by learning words one by one. Others pay less attention to individual words, but learn to speak in phrases, saying, "Gimme cup of juice," for example.

Toddlers are developing an awareness of the power of words. At this age, your toddler is learning that he can use words to get attention, get his needs met, and express his feelings.