Your Child's Journey

wisdom for the big steps little children take

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2 Years 7 Months Boy

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Stress and the Preschooler

Your preschooler is probably pretty happy most of the time. But there are many things that can cause stress for your preschooler. He has so many new skills to juggle. The arrival of a new sibling, lack of a regular routine, illness, moving, vacation, change in caregivers, fear of the dark, and even too many planned activities can stress your preschooler.

The signs of stress at this age often depend on his personality. Some preschoolers become withdrawn and seem bored, while others become angry and impatient. Some don’t want to play or want to go home when they have just arrived at play group. Some regress in their toilet training or in self-skills like dressing themselves.

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2 Years 6 Months Boy

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Opposites

Two-and-a-half is the most unpredictable preschool age. He will shift from one extreme to the other without warning. This is not because he purposely wants to confuse you or irritate you or defy you. The reason for this changeability lies in a giant step he is taking in decision making.

He is discovering opposites and alternate choices. He understands yes and no, run and stop, take and give, come and go, etc. But now he cannot sort out the relative merits of these opposites for any particular situation. He is not yet capable of thinking of only one to the exclusion of the other.

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2 Years 5 Months Boy

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Your Toddler’s Brain and Memory

Your two-year old’s brain is three-fourths the size of his adult brain. By five years of age it will be nearly full size. As his brain grows, structures involved in learning, memory, motor control, and other brain functions are being developed.

Right now he has trillions of neural pathways, double the number he will have as an adult. The more often a pathway is used, the stronger the connections are. The development of these pathways is influenced by how your toddler’s brain is used, the variety and richness of the environment he is exposed to, and also genetics. Routine and repetition cause the brain to strengthen the most important connections. Less used pathways are treated by the brain as less important. The pathways that are not used or only used infrequently, will wither away. This is a normal process called pruning.

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2 Years 4 Months Boy

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“Again!”

The key word for this age is “Again!” He may want to follow exactly the same routine day in and day out or wear the same clothes every day or eat the same foods. As irritating as this can be to live with, the repetition is providing your little one with a sense of stability and control. He is trying to make sense of his world. Once he figures out how something is supposed to work, he wants to do it over and over to make sure it happens that way every time. When he sees the same result, he is reassured and gains confidence. Rituals provide comfort.

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2 Years 3 Months Boy

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Mastered Skills

His walking is a smooth heel-to-toe motion, while his running is still a bit awkward and stiff. He still runs into things and knocks things over because he can’t turn corners well or stop quickly. He can stand on tiptoes to see and touch things that are a little above eye level. And he climbs on anything available to reach things up higher. Although he can get up quite high, he still has difficulty getting back down. He is now able to jump up getting both feet off the ground, although he only clears the floor by about an inch.

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