The first year of your baby's life is nothing short of amazing. I
sometimes look back at the first year of my own children, who are now
in elementary school, and I realize that during that year, they
completely transformed. They started out as screaming, demanding little
creatures, whose entire purpose in life, so it seemed, was to eat, soil
their diapers and sleep. But during that magical year, they became
smiling, happy little people, who love to communicate and crave
interaction and social attention.
Baby's first year is
characterized with many developmental milestones. Here, I am going to
highlight the ones that were the most fun and exciting for me, as a
parent, to watch.
1 Month old
By this age, your baby
will prefer the human face to other shapes. He may also turn towards
familiar sounds or voices. These are your first clues that the screaming
bundle you brought home from the hospital is going to be a social human
being some day!
2 months old
She smiles! This is
probably one of the most exciting milestones. Her smile is not very
focused. She smiles at anyone, not just at you, and her smile is more of
a reflex than a genuine smile, but it is still exciting and
heartwarming, especially after two long months of sleepless nights.
3 months old
By
this age, your baby begins to develop a social smile. His smile is no
longer just a random reflex.
He actually smiles at familiar faces.
Another very cute milestone typical for this age: you will see your baby
"exercise" by kicking his legs energetically.
4 months old
Your
baby is becoming more and more fun to be around. He's not limited to
lying down anymore: he can roll over, and sit with support. He also
babbles and makes new and changing noises. By this age, he can sleep for
stretches of six hours, which makes your life much easier, especially
compared with the 1-2 hour stretches of the first few weeks.
5 months old
It's
great fun to watch your baby as she experiments with the principle of
cause and effect. One morning, when she shakes her rattle, it makes a
noise. This is interesting! Now she shakes it again, on purpose,
delighted with her ability to produce such an interesting sound. What
else can she make happen?
6 months old
Your baby is
curious and active. When you hold him in your arms, he's probably not
leaning against your body anymore, unless he's tired. He'd much rather
look around, reach and grab interesting objects.
7 months old
Playing
peekaboo with your baby is one of the highlights of this age. But no
worries: if you're too busy to play, your baby will happily play all by
himself. I once caught my baby placing a towel over her face, then
removing it. She did it several times, obviously experimenting with the
concept of "peekaboo."
8 months old
Your baby has a
will of her own, and she now has ways of showing it. A baby this age
will turn her head away when she's not hungry anymore. Trying to get one
more spoon into her? Good luck with that. When she's full, she stops
eating. Don't you wish you were like that?
9 months old
His
fine motor skills are improving fast - he can now pick up tiny objects
using his fingers. During mealtime, he's even more independent than
before. He'd much rather feed himself, and often tries to grab the spoon
when you feed him.
10 months old
What a relief. As
your baby begins to understand the concept of object permanence, your
trips to the bathroom are no longer causing hysteria. Your baby finally
understands that even if he can't see you, you still exist. In the past,
he believed that when you went out of sight, you completely
disappeared, never to return again.
11 months old
She's
almost not a baby anymore. Very soon she'll be a toddler. Indeed, she
now understands the concept of 'no'; claps her hands; waves bye-bye; and
calls "mama" and "dada." Independence is very important to her now: my
daughter used to brush her own hair, using the wrong side of the brush.
She also used to make frequent attempts at getting dressed by herself.
None of her attempts were successful, but she always kept trying.
12 months old
Congratulations!
You've survived the first year. But you must admit: all those sleepless
nights were worth it. Your child is more fun to be with than he ever
was before. He smiles, laughs, and communicates, even though he doesn't
really talk yet. Perhaps he can walk, or maybe he still needs your help
walking. He can identify himself in a mirror and loves to see his own
reflection. He also loves putting objects into containers and then
taking them out and can occupy himself doing that for long stretches of
time.
Happy birthday!
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