He’s catching up on all those months of no talking. Doctor’s visit after doctor’s visit, he would be behind on the speech portion of his developmental milestones checklists. It was bad enough that the doctor recommended he be screened for Early Steps, a program that evaluates kids who are developmentally behind and provides free supplemental training/therapy to boost their skills. Ben went through the evaluation and was found to be ok. But we were still worried. All the checklists quantified how many words he could say. For a while he didn’t have any words he consistently said.

Well, now he has lots of words! Let’s start a list:

1. Mommy
2. Daddy
3. Up
4. Please
5. More
6. Cat/kitty
7. Dora (Dora the Explorer)
8. Gabba (Yo Gabba Gabba TV show)
9. Milk
10. Water
11. Cup
12. Ball
13. Key
14. Car
15. Click
16. Conk (a word we say when you “conk” your head/foot/etc. on something)
17. Ow
18. No
19. Yes
20. Chip
21. Dip
22. Ben
23. Thank you
24. Apple
25. Orange
26. Juice
27. On
28. Dog
29. Puppy
30. Shoe
31. Hair
32. Head
33. Belly/belly button
34. Bubbles
35. Pop
36. Cover
37. Kiss

And I’m probably forgetting some but he’s catching up!

Chart of milestones from BabyCenter.com:

Child’s Age	Mastered Skills (most kids can do)	Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)	Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
19 months	Uses a spoon and fork Runs Throws a ball underhand Enjoys helping around the house	Understands as many as 200 words Recognizes when something is wrong (e.g., calling a dog a cat)	Washes and dries own hands with help Points to picture or object when you call it by name May know when she needs to pee
20 months	Feeds doll Takes off own clothes Dumps an object in imitation, such as throwing garbage away	Learns words at a rate of ten or more a day Can walk up stairs (but probably not down)	May start exploring genitals Draws a straight line Names several body parts
21 months	Can walk up stairs Able to set simple goals (e.g., deciding to put a toy in a certain place)	Throws a ball overhand Kicks ball forward Stacks six blocks	Names simple picture in a book Can walk down stairs
22 months	Kicks ball forward Follows two-step requests(e.g., “Get your doll and bring it here”)	Does simple puzzles Draws a straight line Names several body parts	Puts on loose-fitting clothes Might be ready for a big bed Understands opposites (e.g., tall vs. short)
23 months	Names simple picture in a book Uses 50 to 70 words	Opens doors Sings simple tunes Takes more of an interest in playing with other kids	Talks about self (likes, dislikes) Asks “why?”
24 months	Names at least six body parts Half of speech is understandable Makes two- to three-word sentences	Talks about self Arranges things in categories Can walk down stairs	Begins to understand abstract concepts (e.g., sooner and later) Becomes attuned to gender differences Learns to jump