From ages two to five, your child will grow in leaps and bound, physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Because you are right there to witness this transformation on a daily basis, the changes will seem subtle until you sit back and take notice of how far your child has come from baby through toddler to preschooler.

Your child changes, develops, and grows in a vast number of ways at this age, but there are some developmental milestones that are common to all children.

By the time your child is two, he will have made major strides in movement, fine motor, language, cognitive, and emotional and social development. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has compiled a comprehensive list of the development that occurs by age two.

You’ll no doubt have trouble keeping up with you toddler, who has begun to run, climb up and down stairs (and furniture), and can carry around several items at a time. In addition, he will be busy building towers, scribbling on everything (including your walls), and talking.

Development by age two includes your toddler’s ability to use simple phrases, repeat words, and follow simple instructions. In addition, this is the stage where make-believe play starts, and imitating others and demonstrating increasing independence are also hallmarks of the two year-old’s development. This is also the stage when defiant behavior starts, but again, is a stage.

Around this age, the defiance of the “terrible two” will fade, and your child will refine and continue to develop skills in all areas of development. According to the AAP, at this stage your preschooler will be hopping and standing on one foot, moving backward and forward, and throwing a ball overhand. Fine motor skills continue to develop, as your child begins drawing people with two to four body parts and using scissors.

Preschoolers tell stories, have mastered some grammar basics, and speak clearly enough for strangers to understand. Cognitive skills are developing rapidly, too; your child knows some names of colors, and understands counting and a sense of time.

Preschoolers are increasingly interested in playing make-believe games and are becoming more indepenedent, dressing themselves and viewing themselves as a whole person, with a body, mind, and emotions.

At this stage, children are developing into kindergarteners, energetic, demanding, and sometimes seeming out of control. Again, the AAP offers guidelines for what development is taking place at this age. Your soon-to-be-kindergartener is swinging and climbing, hopping and somersaulting and is generally a flurry of activity.

Dressing and undressing unassisted and using silverware are plusses in terms of daily caregiving, and children this age usually tend to their own bathroom needs as well. Language is developing rapidly; your child can retell parts of stories and tell longer stories, and speak in sentences of more than five words.

Children this age have an increased understanding of time and counting objects. While they show more independence, they generally are more likely to follow rules and to want to please and be like their friends. Sometimes cooperative, sometimes demanding, children this age are really coming into their own as unique individuals.

Not all children develop exactly alike, and all are unique little people, but if you think your child is not developing appropriately, discuss it with your pediatrician. These stages fly past so quickly, and build on each other almost imperceptibly, so enjoy each one while it lasts. Soon your child will be on to bigger and better things!