2 months
- Mouthing reflex : Suckling and swallowing are automatic when the baby's mouth or lips are touched
- Rooting reflex : When baby tries to find the nipple for feeding
- Startle or Moro's reflex : occurs when the baby hears a loud noise ( maximum in 1st month , fades away by 2 to 3 months )
- Grasp reflex : When baby will grasp a finger or object placed in its palm (maximum is the first 2 months , fades away by 5 to 6 months )
- Raises head when on stomach
- Makes a fist
- Begins to smile at people
- Move hands to mouth and suck it
- Tries to look at pregnant
- Coos and makes gurgling noises
- Turns head towards sounds
- Follows people and things with eyes
4 months
- Smiles spontaneously at people
- Likes to play with people and cries when play stops
- Copies movements like frowning or smiling
- Babbles with expression
- Cries differently to show hunger , pain or tiredness
- Responds to affection
- Reaches for toy with one hand
- Uses hand and eyes together , likes seeing a toy and reaching for it
- Follows moving objects with eyes from side to side
- Recognizes familiar people from a distance
- Holds head steady and unsupported
6 months
- Recognizes familiar faces and knows if a person is a stranger
- Likes to play with others especially parents
- Looks at self in a mirror
- Responds to own name
- Makes sounds to show joy and displeasure
- Begins to say consonant sounds ( jabbering with m , b )
- Looks around at things nearby
- Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach
- Begins to pass things from one hand to the other
- Rolls over in both directions (front to back , back to front )
- Begins to sit without support
- When standing , supports weight on legs and might bounce
- Rocks back and forth
9 months
- May be afraid of strangers
- May be clingy with familiar adults
- Has favorite
toys - Understands 'No'
- Makes a lot of different sounds
- Copies sounds and gestures of others
- Uses fingers to point at things
- Watches the path of something as it falls
- Plays peek-a-boo
- Put things in its mouth
- Moves things smoothly from one hand to the other
- Picks up things between thumb and index finger
- Crawls , Stands , Holding onto a support
- Can get into sitting position and sits without support
- Pulls to stand
1 year
- Is shy or nervous with strangers
- Cries when mom or dad leaves
- Has favorite things and people
- Shows fear in some situations
- Hands a book when it wants to hear a story
- Repeats sounds or actions to get attention
- Puts out arm or leg to help with dressing
- Responds to simple spoken requests
- Uses simple gestures like shaking head 'no' or waving 'bye-bye'
- Makes sounds with changes in tone
- Says 'mama' and 'dada' and exclamations like 'uh-oh'
- Tries to say words you say
- Explores things in different ways , like shaking , banging , throwing
- Finds hidden things easily
- Looks at the right picture or thing when its named
- Copies gestures
- Starts to use things correctly (drinks from a cup , brushes hair)
- Bangs two things together
- Put things in a container , takes things out of container
- Pokes with index (pointer) finger
- Follows simple directions like 'pick up the toy'
- Gets to a sitting position without help
- Pulls up to stand , walks holding on to furniture ('cruising')
- May take a few steps without holding or may stand alone
18 months
- Likes to hand things to others as play
- May have temper tantrums
- May be afraid of strangers
- Shows affection to familiar people
- May cling to caregivers in new situations
- Points to show what it wants or something interesting
- Explores alone but with parent close by
- Says several single words
- Says No and shakes head
- Knows what ordinary things are like telephone , brush , spoon
- Points to get the attention of others
- Shows interest in a doll or stuffed animal by pretending to feed
- Points to one body part
- Scribbles on his own
- Walks alone
- May walk up steps and run
- Pulls toys while walking
- Can help undress herself
- Drinks from a cup and eats with a spoon
2 years
- Copies others , especially adults and older children
- Gets excited when with other children
- Shows more and more independence
- Shows defiant behavior ( doing what it has not been told not to)
- Plays mainly beside other children , but is beginning to include other children , such as in chase games
- Points to things or pictures when they are named
- Knows names of familiar people and body parts
- Says sentences with 2 to 4 words
- Follows simple instructions
- Repeats words overheard in conversation
- Points to things in a book
- Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers
- Begins to sort shapes and colors
- Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books
- Plays simple make-believe games
- Builds towers of 4 or more blocks
- Might use one hand more than the other
- Follows two-step instructions such as "Pick up your shoes and put them in the closet"
- Names items in a picture book (cat , bird , dog , etc )
- Stands on tiptoe
- Kicks a ball
- Begins to run
- Climbs onto and down from furniture without help
- Walks up and down stairs holding on
- Throws ball overhand
- Makes or copies straight lines and circles
3 year
- Takes turns in games
- Shows concern for crying friend
- Understands the idea of mine , his and hers
- Shows a wide range of emotions
- Separates easily from mom and dad
- May get upset with major changes in routine
- Dresses and undresses self
- Follows instructions with 2 or 3 steps
- Can name most familiar things
- Understands words like in / on / under
- Says first name , age and sex
- Names a friend
- Says words like - I / me / we / you / and some plurals ( cars , dogs , cats )
- Talks well enough for strangers to understand most of the time
- Carries on a conversation using 2 or 3 sentences
- Can work with buttons , levers and moving parts
- Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces
- Understands what 'two' means
- Turns book pages one at a time
- Builds towers of more than 6 blocks
- Screws and unscrews jar lids or turns door handle
- Climbs well
- Runs easily
- Pedals a tricycle
- Walks up and down stairs
4 to 5 years
- Enjoys doing new things
- Plays Mom and Dad
- Is more and more creative with make-believe-play
- Would rather play with other children than by itself
- Often cant tell whats real and whats make-believe
- Talks about what she likes and what she is interested in
- Knows some basic rules of grammar , such as correctly using he and she
- Sings a song or says a poem from memory
- Tells stories
- Can say first and last name
- Names some colors and some numbers
- Understands the idea of counting
- Starts to understand time
- Remembers parts of a story
- Understands the idea of same and different
- Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts
- Uses scissors
- Starts to copy some capital letters
- Plays board or card games
- Tells you what it thinks is going to happen next in the book
- Catches a bounced ball most of the time
- Pours , cuts with supervision and mashes own food.
Subscribe , Follow on