Growing Up
From birth to 3 months
Newborn babies are amazing, because every day brings new changes and developments. They:
- begin to smile and visually track people and objects with their eyes;
- prefer to look at faces and bright colours;
- gurgle and coo;
- can lift their head when they are on their tummy;
- cry often, but feel better when held and comforted.
From 4 to 6 months
Babies become more interactive. They grab hair or hold a toy, may sleep longer and start laughing. They:
- smile and laugh, and imitate sounds they hear;
- learn about their body, explore their hands and feet;
- can sit up when helped, on the sofa or an armchair;
- like to roll over and bounce;
- can grasp things without using their thumb;
- love putting things in their mouth.
From 7 to 12 months
At this age babies start to move around by rolling over, crawling and standing. They will test their strength and try to pull themselves up. Their first steps are not far away. Babies will start to be anxious and troubled when parents leave. They:
- love children’s songs;
- wave goodbye;
- understand their name and other familiar words and say their first words
1; - like to explore and bang and shake objects;
- look for hidden toys and put things in containers;
- can sit up all by themselves;
- creep around and can pull themselves up to stand and try to walk.
WARM UP
• Do you like babies and young children?
• Have you ever babysat your baby brother/sister/ cousin?
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1 Some perfectly normai babies don't say a recognizable word until their 18"' month, whereas some babies begin to communicate in words or word-sounds ("ma-ma", "da-da, "pa-pa", etc.) as early as 7 months.