What is the average 16 month old doing?

[Allonsy]

Ds2 is 16 months, ds1 was not the average child he was delayed with alot of things and now being assessed for possible SN so not good to base on and probably why im a worrier. Ds2 is not really talking he can say 'daddy' and tries to say ta which comes out as 'da' and thats it. He dosnt understand any instructions like give me your cup, wheres your juice, wheres your dummy etc, he does seem to be getting that if i say 'ta' i want what hes holding and he will pass it back and forth saying 'da'. He's a very active boy walked at 11 months and zooms around the house, has little fear often climbs on tables and furniture etc, likes to run full pelt into things eg walls and laugh and bang his head and face off things, hates being bothered eg getting dressed and nappy changes but otherwise a happy boy, is always laughing and smiling whenever he catches your eye LOVES playing peek a boo and always starts a game of it himself by turning his head away and then to you and laughing, brings toys over to me and throws them at me can be very rough and quite agressive frequently hits out, gets hysterical if told off though, tends to just bang toys, is learning to use his hammer and peg toy to make sounds, and rolls cars back and forth, cant stack blocks or use a shape sorter though. Is a pretty good eater but dislikes spoons and forks doesnt really get them favouring hands, think thats about it so tell me all sounding normal?

[WillSingForCake]

All sounds very normal to me. They all develop at such different rates though - my 16 month old DD has good speech, but isn't walking yet, or even standing independently.

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

Ds2 is not really talking he can say 'daddy' and tries to say ta which comes out as 'da' and thats it. same
He dosnt understand any instructions like give me your cup, wheres your juice, wheres your dummy etc, I think he undestands a fair bit, but will he DO it...?
He's a very active boy walked at 11 months and zooms around the house, has little fear often climbs on tables and furniture etc snap
hates being bothered eg getting dressed and nappy changes snap
LOVES playing peek a boo snap
can be very rough and quite agressive frequently hits out snap snap snap!, tends to just bang toys Oh dear god the patio doors...
is learning to use his hammer and peg toy to make sounds could do, but they make a less satsifying noise than the patio doors...
cant stack blocks or use a shape sorter though can, does occasionally, prefers knocking down blocks and throwing shapes

Answer some of your questions?

[addictedtolatte]

Sounds very normal to me

[xlatia]

sounds just like my DS at almost the same age

people started asking "but isn't he talking yet?" so i keep reminding myself that they're all different and expecting them to be very mobile AND very verbal might be a bit too much to ask for.

[JacqueslePeacock]

DS (16mo) has about 25 words but his pronunciation is quite odd and none of them are at all clear (so there may be lots more we haven't worked out yet!) - eg "batbo!" for "peepo!", "mor" for milk, etc. He can follow instructions ("take your shoes to Daddy" etc) and point out different animals in books ("where's the lion?). Sometimes I think he understands an instruction but deliberately ignores it, and "come here" has him running in the opposite direction giggling madly.

He has been walking since 14mo. He loves peekaboo and bashing toys together to make loud noises. He can't quite manage to climb on the furniture yet (the source of much frustration to him). He went through a phase of hitting out in anger/upset a couple of months ago but thankfully seems to be over it. He loves to pull hair, which is maddening.

He can feed himself quite well with fingers or a fork, but hasn't really mastered a spoon yet and often prefers to throw the food on the floor, usually after telling it "bye bye".

He is a totally awful sleeper and still wakes 3-6 times a night.

[JacqueslePeacock]

It does seem to be that the ones who walk earlier talk a bit later and vice versa.

[lljkk]

16 months = rampant mission of self-destruction, ime!! That's the big thing. If he's somewhat whingy, trying to climb everything & prone to running off, he's pretty normal.

[ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts]

sounds pretty normal. my 16m ds has great motor skills and physical skills (early crawler, walker etc) but has no words. he can do all his shape sorters,stack blocks etc and use a fork but can only say daddy. general noise maker, destroyer and rampant runner :-D

[xlatia]

16 months olds are a lovely lot, aren't they?

[GoldPlatedNineDoors]

I agree with the 'walk or talk' observation above. DN walked very early but has a teensy vocabulary. DD can say about 30 words and animal noises but cant walk.

[CoolaSchmoola]

DD walked at 12 months, but only has about five words. She understands instructions and can do two parters (ie pick up your cup and take it to Grandma etc). She knows and can point to six parts of her body and the same on other people.

She stacks cups, can get on the furniture and fall off it sigh, pretend plays with toys (feeds dolls etc), pretends to eat food from books, climbs everything, can take her clothes and nappy off, puts some clothes and her shoes/wellies on (often gets the clothes on back to front and the shoes on the wrong feet). She can put her coat and hat on and then takes it off and throws it the minute we leave the house.

She uses spoons and forks, straw cups not sippy cups (she empties sippy cups all over the floor) and when she's full she hands her plate back.

Lately she's become really independent and we've hit full on tantrum mode. She wants to change her own nappy, she wants to dress herself, she wants to dry herself after a bath - she wants to do everything and throws a fit if I try to help or do it for her. She's frustrated with me, but then also gets frustrated with herself if she can't do something because she hasn't got the skills to do it just yet.

They all do things at their own rate though, and I also think that it's walk or talk initially.