The cute stuff: They say amusing things

They find beauty in fungus and wonder in the clouds. Because they're just discovering the world, they have a unique ability to connect ideas and words in unexpected ways. For instance: One afternoon in Dedham, Massachusetts, Emily Michelsen, 2½, noticed her mother wasn't wearing her nursing bra. She paused a minute, watching her baby sister latch on without the familiar unsnapping.

"Who left the milk out?" she said.

Alice Coleman, of Bethesda, Maryland, recalls when her daughter, Brigit, also 2½, regarded her brother's private parts during a diaper change, and then commented: "Penises. They go up, they go down. They go up, they go down. I know a lot about penises."

"You certainly do," Coleman replied (and promptly began worrying about her daughter's teenage years).

What's happening As they acquire language and smarts at the same time, children start to label not just things but feelings, ideas, and theories. (Even before they speak, you might see this new understanding if you watch for it.)

Sometimes a toddler's observation about a situation is merely the most obvious. Penises do, in fact, go up and down, but adults tend not to mention that kind of thing. Kids, who have little experience or grasp of cultural norms, are willing to say what we only think, and this willingness almost gives their utterances a philosophical profundity. And isn't the best philosophy often the simplest?

How to help As your child's language skills develop, the best thing you can do, again, is to be a good conversational partner. "Talk with them about what they're interested in," Warren says. "But let them lead." Your job is to provide a little of the context your child's missing and to help him take his observations to the next level. Ask open-ended questions and show that you're listening to the answers. It's fine to laugh if your child says something unintentionally funny, but make it clear that you're not laughing at him.

And read together. That helps children understand words, even if they can't yet say them, and it helps them understand meanings they can't express.

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