Most commonly called the "terrible twos" your toddler is in an intense phase of intellectual, social and emotional development. This phase is often referred to as the "terrible twos" because it's a time where your two year old toddler begins to desire and assert his desire for independence.

By the end of the third year, when your child is 36 months of age, your toddler should have met some general developmental milestones. Your toddler should grow, on average, ¼ to ½ inch each month and gain 4-6 pounds over the course of this year.

Although all toddlers develop at their own pace, your two year old should hit some general developmental milestones.

Some developmental milestones you should look for in your two-year-old toddler include:

• Imitation of others sound, speech and actions
• Showing affection
• Understands “mine” and “his”
• Expressing emotions
• Noticing and opposing major changes to routine
• Separating from parents fairly easily
• Playing pretend with toys, dolls, kitchen equipment
• Sorting and organizing objects
• Completing simple puzzles
• Following a two to three step command
• Recognizing objects, pictures, animals, people
• Understanding most of what you say
• Saying name and age
• Others understanding most of her language
• Using 4 word simple sentences
• Climbing
• Walking up and down stairs using one foot at a time
• Kicks balls
• Running
• Dancing
• Doodling with crayon
• Turning books page by page
• Building a tower of 6 blocks or more
• Holding a pencil properly
• Drawing a circle