So we had a really great weekend. We celebrated Ali’s birthday “Paris Hilton” style with multiple parties over the weekend.

Friday night we had a nice family get together, dinner and ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Ali really enjoyed that!

He opened a few presents, got some cute new clothes for the summer, books including a Thomas the Tank Engine one! ( We are all about trains these days).

Saturday, my sister came into town and there was more cake and presents.

Sunday two of my aunties, a cousin and her daughter came by and Ali got more books, a very cool raincoat which we will feature in another post and a little guitar (and yes, there was more cake)

I was starting to get worried that we were starting a trend, where he was going to expect presents every day!

We had a really lovely time. And so now that the terrible twos are officially here- Game On!

So only two more days until Ali turns 2.

He has come so far, and learned a lot in the last 12 months- walking, talking, increased comprehension, better communication, improved co ordination etc etc.

I know that these coming 12 months will see us discover a lot together! Can’t wait!

The potty came home with us from Wal Mart yesterday.  Ali has already spent some time sitting on it and basically giggling like crazy.

Let the games begin!

Ali is quite the little parrot these days. Seems he is constantly repeating after us. It got me thinking, “I wonder at this age, just how many words he should know?”.

Now I realize “should know” is a somewhat relative term, as each child develops according to their own schedule, but I was curious to get a benchmark number.

A quick search in Ask.com revealed a number of sites with suggestions, and one of them, called Baby Center had this posted:

“At 19-24 months- Though he probably says about 50 to 70 words now, your child may understand as many as 200 words, many of which are nouns. Between 18 and 20 months, he’ll learn words at the rate of 10 or more a day (so watch your language!). He’ll even string two words together, making basic sentences such as “Carry me.”

By the time he’s 2, your child will use three-word sentences and sing simple tunes. His sense of self will mature, and he’ll start talking about what he likes and doesn’t like, what he thinks and feels. Pronouns may confuse him, which is why he might say “Baby throw” instead of “I throw.”

Very interesting I say!  And actually, somewhat reassuring

I know that Ali can come up with more than 50, and probably over 70 words, on his own.  By that I mean, he uses them, not just repeats what he hears.

He is starting to put together mini sentences like, “Where are you? and “What’s that?”.  We try and read together every single day, and I know that he understands more than he can speak at this time.

Will be interesting to re-visit this particular topic in a couple of months and see the development!