By 13 months, about half of all babies walk, but most still fall over if they lose momentum.
A 15 months, he is beginning to twist his wrist so that his hand turns independently of his arm.
He is more purposeful in the way he explores objects.
He can put two ideas together to make a plan and his behavior begins to flow.
He starts to treat objects in apropriate ways: he cuddles teddy bears and presses the button on his jack-in-the-box.
He says his first word (any time after 8 months). First words generally relate to objects: cats, dogs and buses are popular, as are sounds associated with food such as "Yummm."
What you can do to help your baby learn more with:
Clear a path so your child is able to move freely. Bolster her confidence with plenty of positive reinforcement for efforts to exercise her new balancing and walking skills. And remember, for safety reasons, never extend the length of a toy's pull string or tie it around your child's wrist.
If yours is a musical toy, build your child's receptive language skills and appreciation of music by singing along with it, or making up your own words to the tunes.
Pretend to have a parade and your child will follow in your footsteps, with the pull-toy bringing up the rear! Show your child how you march, and encourage her to bring her knees up high, too (as best she can, of course, without toppling over!). Call out the rhythm of your steps — "March, march. March, march." Everyone loves a parade!
To extend the musical play, add musical instruments to your parade—make cymbals of pots and pans, for example. Linking music with movement helps children internalise what they're experiencing and learning.
Reality-based playsets such as this encourage children to take what they experience in real life and bring it to their play. And at a time when many children are moving beyond the pointing stage and trying to get the words out for things they want to communicate, playsets are also good prompters for building language skills.
What you can do to help your baby learn more with:
Sit back and watch your child play with this toy. You'll see re-enactments of things you do (it's one of the joys and, quite possibly, revelations about this type of toy). Don't be surprised if you hear the mummy saying things you say—"Time for you to go to bed now!" Watch how your child interprets the world.
Feel free to join in and add to the pretend play. "It seems like the baby's tired. Do you think we should put the baby to bed?" Or try interjecting something into a scene your child has already set up: "Do I hear a baby crying?" It doesn't really matter whether your child accepts your idea or not; your intent here is to plant ideas for furthering the play.
Point out different parts of the house, and using descriptive words: "Let's go up the stairs to the bathroom." "Let's go down." "Let's go in or out or through the door." If you can get these spatial relation words into an everyday context for your child now—by hearing them, seeing what they mean and taking action—it won't be long before they make sense to her.
Talk about how the dollhouse is like your house, or how it's different. Comparisons exercise your child's thinking skills, so as you go through your daily routines, point out the various things in your house that relate to features of her dollhouse: "We use our real oven to make dinner. Can you show me the oven in your house?"
All children develop at their own pace, and reach milestones at different times. The highlights mentioned in this web site are meant as approximate guidelines only. If you have any questions about your child's development, consult your healthcare provider.
