It's Sarah K.K., back with another installment of Toddler Thursday ...

A funny thing has happened the past couple of weeks. My son, Isaac, at nearly 20 months old, has had an explosion of vocabulary. 

Saturday morning, he slept in (oh, that was so glorious!) and my husband and I went in to say good morning. We scooped him out of his crib, and he gestured toward the changing table and said, "Diaper?" My husband and I eyeballed each other, like, "Did he really just say that?" While he was being changed, he looked up at us and said, "Milk? Juice?" More sidelong glances. Then, after the change, he pointed and declared, "Downstairs!" 

It wasn't that he hadn't used these words before, it's more that he usually said them when prompted, and this was a string of understandable, appropriately-used words, delivered one right after another. We were floored.

In the days since then, it has continued. "Babies!" he says when he wants to read "What Does Baby Say?" "Bears," he says when he would like to read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" And yesterday, "Oli-LEE-Ah!" he said to request "Olivia." (That last was entirely a new one.) Then he sat on the floor reading a book about peekaboo, saying, "Peekaboo, I see you!" again and again. Another new one.

The best side effect of this (besides the total sense of wonderment it's fostered in me and my husband) is that Isaac is so pleased when he tells us something and we understand. I think it's because of that sense of connection that the explosion has continued.

I don't mean to suggest that he hasn't been using words or that he's been unable to get any points across whatsoever. But it's happening more often, all of a sudden. And it's amazing. I've read in "Happiest Toddler on the Block" and elsewhere that between 15 months and 2 years can be one of the hardest times because these little ones have so much going on in their heads, so many opinions that they can't quite express. And of course, it's so frustrating for them.

So it's been a joy to see not only that my little guy is learning, but also his sense almost of relief when he has something to tell us and we get what he's saying. Oh, we're still running into tantrums here and there -- the vocabulary hasn't increased that much yet -- but we've forestalled a couple of them by talking him through and helping him find the words he is looking for. 

It's just such an interesting time! I'd love to hear your stories of when your toddler started making language breakthroughs, too.

(Photo above by me, Isaac requesting "BOOK!")