Early Child Development - Gross Motor Skills - Baby's Movement Develops:
Developmental Milestones - Early Childhood Development varies. Theses are guidelines, not absolutes. Your child's development may be ahead or behind these estimates and still be within normal ranges.
Early Child Development - Your baby is developing strength, balance and coordination to walk. He may walk unsupported, but crawling and falling may still happen.
Early Child Development - Fine Motor Skills - Hand-Eye Coordination Improves:
Early Child Development - Your baby's ability to use his hand strength and
fine motor coordination is improving. He can pick up small objects, flip pages in a book, and build simple stacks of blocks. If you have not already done so, consider taking your child for a
vision exam.
Early Child Development - Communication - Speech and Language Skills :
Early Child Development - Your baby is developing greater understanding of your words, and the ability not to listen to them! He may ignore you or take pleasure in doing
things you've asked him not to do. He may drop objects purposely to watch you fetch them for him. He can follow simple requests and can remember things that are important to him such as where he left his favorite toy. He may experience frustration because his
expressive language skills are not developing as quickly as his thoughts are. This can lead to crying, tantrums and
biting to express frustration.
Early Child Development - Cognitive Skills - Thinking Skills More Observable :
Early Child Development - Although your baby's
thinking skills develop long before we can see them, he has been thinking and processing information he perceives through his vision, touching, listening, smelling, and
receptive language skills,
verbal intelligence in everyday communication. At age 12 - 18 months, we see evidence of his thinking through his actions. He responds to our words, has a vocabulary of about 10 - 15 words, begins to use objects as tools, and can solve simple problem such as using one object to reach another. He is beginning to show awareness of cause and effect.
Early Child Development - Support Your Baby's Learning Through Play:
Early Child Development - Toys that stimulate your baby's walking and age-appropriate climbing will develop his balance and coordination. Pushing and pulling toys are also good for this. Encourage your baby and praise him with smiles and positive comments. Listen carefully and allow him time to express himself. Using a wait time of about ten seconds may encourage him to speak more. When he is frustrated, model positive words for him, and teach him to solve the problem. "The milk is spilled. We'll clean it up." Hold your own frustrations in check, and focus on solving the problem rather than criticism.
