Your child's vocabulary is growing much like her clothing size! Your child is starting to  identify and label familiar objects and pictures, follow simple directions, and communicate using single words or putting words together. What YOU say is also important in helping your child learn and develop.
One way to talk with your child is to describe what your child is doing (yes, we know we already told you this like 10 times...but it is THAT important!). Describing is commenting about what your child is doing (much like a sports commentator) and can be done anytime. Describing tells your child you are listening and paying attention to them and that what they do and say is important. Describing what your child is doing also helps to build basic concepts, provides labels to objects, activities, and play skills, and allows you to give special attention to her and what she is doing.
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Brain Science for Your Baby
We know that reading to children is really important. But the back-and-forth talk between you and your toddler is at least as important - maybe more important. A 2009 study from UCLA showed that back-and-forth conversation during the first few years between a parent and child was even more strongly associated having strong language skills than having the parent reading to the child. Help your child learn new words by talking about what is going on, and then get a back and forth conversation going!
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