• I can jump in place.

• I can ride a tricycle

• I can feed myself with a cup, spoon, and fork.

• I can kick a ball.

• I can climb stairs up and down.

• I will use the potty with few accidents.

• I can tell others my name, age, and sex, and almost everyone can understand most of my speech. I usually speak in full sentences and use plurals.

• I like to listen to you read me stories.

• I can use my own fork, spoon, and cup.

• I need three meals and two to three snacks a day.

• Keep my snacks healthy. I like candy and chips, but they should only be rare treats.

• We should share meals as a family whenever possible- I am old enough now to make mealtime a family fun time. Sit down with me at meals when I eat.

• Do not let me run or play while eating.

• Serve a variety of healthy foods. I will eat what is familiar.

• Avoid foods that might choke me like peanuts, hard candy, gum and hot dogs (unless you cut the hot dogs into pea sized pieces).

• You will need to help me cut up my food.

• If I have not visited the dentist in the last six months, call and make an appointment for me. I should be seeing my dentist twice a year.

• I can brush my teeth, but I will still need teaching and help with brushing and flossing. Be sure my teeth are brushed with a soft toothbrush and a dot of toothpaste with fluoride every day.

• Keep up my bedtime ritual. A routine like bath, brushing teeth, bedtime story, and looking over my books decreases tears.

• Please keep my bedtime consistent – for my sake and yours!

• If you want, I should be able to sleep all night in my own bed now.

• Do not let me watch TV right before bedtime. It excites me.

• Some gearing down time will help me get to sleep.

• I usually will take one nap a day now, but I may grow out of it by the end of this year.

Medem: Medical Library: Age 2 to 3 Years: Sleeping

• I may be fully or partially potty trained now. But I may still wet my bed at night for years to come.

• At times I am too busy to remember to go to the bathroom and may need to be reminded to take a bathroom break every two or three hours during the day.

• Let me take control here. Punishing for accidents or pushing to the potty will only make this take longer.

New AAP Book on Toilet Training

• Give me lots of praise for behavior that you want to see more often.

• Please use discipline to teach me and keep me safe. Be positive. I respond best to positive discipline that emphasizes good choices and reinforces good behaviors. Make sure my day care and baby-sitters all follow the no hitting or spanking rules.

• Please take time to enjoy being with me in these exciting years. I like to spend time one-on-one with just mom or dad doing things that we can both enjoy together.

• Try to ignore undesirable or negative behavior that does not hurt others or me.

• When I need limits set, try distraction, gentle restraint, or separations from the object or from others until I can control my undesirable behavior.

• I need a safe place to play and enough room to run, jump, and somersault.

• I can play with others now.

• Read to me for at least twenty minutes a day.

• I like to help you do simple tasks. I can put napkins on the table, match socks, pick up my toys, and straighten my bed.

• Limit my TV time to no more than an hour per day of appropriate programs. Watch with me sometimes.

• I like toys that I can put together and take apart like legos and blocks.

• Some toys help me have fun – dress up, hats, farm animals, pretending.

• It helps me to understand closeness if you show affection in the family and you spend some time with each member of the family

• Parents need some adult time without me. That helps them to relax around me.

• Teach me to understand that my body belongs to me.

• Keep me from being burned. I am tall enough to reach the stove and counters in the kitchen and bathroom. Keep pan handles turned toward the back of the stove. Set hot water heaters at 120° F. Keep cigarettes, lighters, and matches out of sight and out of reach. Cover electric outlets. Do not leave irons in my reach.

• Always put me in a car seat until I weigh at least 40 pounds and reach to the top harness straps. Then I can graduate to a booster seat.

• I am still too little to hold sharp knives or scissors.

• It is best if guns are kept out of homes with children. If this is not possible, all guns should be stored unloaded and locked, with ammunition kept separately.

• Do not leave me alone around water, in a wading pool or in the bathtub.

• If you want to enroll me in a swimming program, choose one that does not require me to put my head under water. Find a program that allows parents to be involved in all activities.

• Choose a water-resistant or waterproof sunscreen. Reapply every 2 hours. Sunscreens should be used for sun protection and not as a reason to stay in the sun longer.

        I should be up to date with all my immunizations until my four-year check-up now. Please check with my doctor to be sure.

• Be able to sing a song.

• Tell others my first and last names. Know my gender and that of others.

• Talk about my experiences and activities during the day.

• Tell what is fantasy and what is reality.

• Use 4-5 word sentences and use past tense.

• Hop on one foot

• Throw a ball overhand

• Stack up 10 blocks.