Toddlers and talking

How many of your toddlers weren't talking by 2yrs old? I just want to know as my DD isn't but should I be worried or is this quite normal.

I'm an early intervention speech language therapist in a former life and my advice would be to refer her for an assessment. There isn't necessarily anything to worry about yet, but at her age it is good to rule out underlying factors that could be contributing to her lack of language, such as hearing probs etc. It is really impossible to say without a proper assessment as there are so many variables to consider... You can self-refer to Special Education - Ministry of Education. There is often a waitlist, and she may not need help/assessment by the time she gets seen, but at least if your on the waitlist you have the option IYGWIM...

This is probably not helpful, but a friend's dad didn't talk till 3.. and then started talking in complete sentences. Maybe she just doesn't want to talk until she has it all figured out?

shes never been sick at all

You always hear about people whose children didn't talk to 3+ and a fine now... and it isn't uncommon for some children to have wee delays with their speech and language development, and go on to catch up and have no probs as all... However, each child needs to be assessed on an individual basis to ensure there isn't any causal factors contributing to the delays. To give you a rough idea of the norms, by two most children are adding new words to their vocab all the time (usually around 50 words by 18months - 2 years), starting to combine words to make simple two word phases e.g. "go car", "more juice" and simple questions e.g. " what that?" - these early language attempts don't necessarily sound clear as speech sounds continue to develop well after two.
Receptively, they can follow simple instructions, such as "pat the cat", "throw the ball", where is the cat" ... without the need for visual cues such as pointing etc... Children who are developing 6 months either side of these norms are considered to be within the typical range...
The chances are she is just fine Noisybaby, esp if she is understanding what your saying, but IMO you should monitor her progress over the next few months (keeping a list of her language attempts and her speech production i.e. what she says and how it is pronounced) and if you don't feel she is progressing, refer her for an assessment to be safe....

DD is 19 months and has only just (like in the past month) started using words but still tends to grunt and point when she wants something. She understands so much but just hasn't used words until now.