Part of the joy of parenting is watching your child grow and develop. Making sure your child is hitting all his normal development milestones is also key to detecting birth defects, conditions such as cerebral palsy or autism. Your pediatrician will likely go over developmental milestones during your child's checkup visits, but it can be helpful to know what they are so you can be on the lookout for them at home.
Birth to 3 Months
Newborns are learning new and exciting things every day, such as lifting their head off the floor or your shoulder on their own by a few months, and following moving objects with their head and eyes by 2 months. Your 3 month old should be able to grasp onto objects, but may not be able to control hand movements enough to hold on for long. Even as early as 3 months, babies are starting to develop speech and other communication skills, and should be able to recognize loud noises, turn toward the sound of your voice and make general cooing and initial babbling sounds. By 3 months, your babies will enjoy playing with you and being entertained, and will begin to express herself by crying or even smiling and giggling.
4 to 7 Months
By 4 months, your baby should be rapidly developing her motor skills and beginning to support her upper body on her arms. She may even begin the basic motions of learning how to crawl, such as getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. By this time, she'll know how to grab an object on her own and transfer objects from hand to hand. Babies at this age have a fascination with their own bodies and will often spend time grabbing their own hands and feet and pulling them towards the mouth. Your baby is also continuing to learn social skills by recognizing emotion in your voice and repeating basic syllables from time to time.
8 to 12 Months
As your baby reaches 1 year old, the explosion of growth and learning really begins. Most babies at this age are now actively crawling and getting into everything. Your baby may even be able to pull himself up onto furniture and other objects and start testing the waters of walking. Curiosity is the name of the game at this age, as your baby is exploring every nook and cranny of the house and picking up every object in sight, and even some out of sight. Communication skills are rapidly improving as well, as your baby might be starting to use inflection in his voice and responding to basic commands and the word "no."
12 to 24 Months
If you thought the first year was action-packed, wait until the second. Walking begins at this age, and suddenly you find yourself having trouble keeping up with a new toddler. Running then turns into walking and climbing, and soon your little baby isn't a baby anymore. Kids at this age can now point to objects and their speech has developed enough to the point where you can make out several words. Kids up to two years are also beginning to learn their body parts as well as showing the beginnings of defiant behavior and wanting to be independent.
