Most children between 18 and 24 months can say about 50 words and understand hundreds more. While children a few months younger use single words to label objects and people, the one- and two-word phrases children use at this age show the beginnings of what they call "stories"--children's expressions of their desires, descriptions of what they see, and reports on their knowledge of the world. In this article, the authors describe how a group of families and teachers decided to work together and document toddlers' one- and two-word "stories" as a way to strengthen family-teacher partnerships and promote the children's language development. They also offer suggestions that other teachers can use to strengthen partnerships with families and increase understanding of toddlers' emerging language.