Your toddler's development (29 to 30 months)
By the ParentCenter editorial staff

It has been a while since I have commented on any of these milestone pages from Baby Center, so here is an update on what Harry has been up to...

Milestones
By now your child should be able to put on an article of clothing and name about six body parts. She might also be able to balance on one foot for a couple of seconds or identify one color.
Harry can put his shirt on no problem. And he can get gloves on and get his feet through pants. He seems to have trouble pulling pants up, or may just not want to do it. I am not sure. He can name all of his body parts and has for some time, and this doesn't seem advanced to me. He also knows all of your basic colors (primaries plus pink, purple, black, white, etc. I doubt he knows chartreuse). He can also balance on one foot for a short time. I have noticed though that to go across monkey bars, he definitely needs a spotter. He either has not yet grasped the concept or is not at the right stage yet to release only one hand at a time!

Greater curiosity about others
At this age, she might be able to identify one friend by name. And as she grows more aware of what others are thinking and feeling, she'll become more interested in playing with other children.
One friend? Are you kidding me? Harry remembers Hannah and Ledi's dog, Thunder, by name after meeting him once. If you mention one family member, such as Dominic, he asks about his sister Belle, too. He recognizes people from baby pictures. He knows voices of friends on the phone and what Sesame Street characters are singing songs. Harry also loves to play with other kids. Once again, this does not seem all that advanced to me.

Encouraging creativity
Messiness is an integral part of children's artistic play, so don't worry about the disorder and clutter that seem to go hand in hand with her creative endeavors. When she's done with a project, you can teach her that cleaning up is part of the game. Even though her artwork might not look like anything but scribbles, admire and respect it and you'll give her the confidence to keep expressing herself.
Harry likes to visit his framed artwork in the bathroom. Even though the drawings are old, he recognizes them as his. He recognizes everything that he has drawn (I have papers everywhere). He also cleans up a lot of the time. He has had to do this in gym class for well over a year, as well as at school. You aren't supposed to start a new toy until you put the first one away. If you expect that things will get done, I think there is a greater likelihood that they will get done.


Talking to your toddler
You can help build your toddler's verbal skills by expanding on what she says. For instance, if she says "Car go," you might say "Yes, that red car is going down the street very quickly." Model the bigger vocabulary and more complicated sentence structure she'll grow into shortly.
Harry speaks in sentences now. He sings entire songs. He still uses "My" instead of "I" about half of the time, but I confess I think it is cute.
Twinkle, twinkle little star, how my wonder what you are...