Baby is a quarter of a year old! It’s not a milestone that’s generally agreed to be enough of a big deal to throw a party, but you could do it anyway, if you felt like it. In the next quarter of Baby’s first year, she is going to be able to start using the strength she has been building up for the last 3 months to sing songs (in her heart), run marathons (in her mind), and roll over from her tummy onto her back, and then back onto her tummy again.
After that, she might push herself up into crawling position, and maybe even do a little crawling. On the other hand, she might find a much stranger way to move around, like an army-creep, a barrel-roll, and crab-walk, or a baby-specific scoot.
As she works up to that kind of advanced motion, though, she is also going to have some smaller, but no less important, advances. Baby teeth, for example, are pretty small, but they’ll be very important when she grows out of the mushy slush that makes up the earliest baby food, and starts to look around for something more solid to sink those little chompers into. Teething usually doesn’t start until the 6-month mark or so, but for some babies, it can start far earlier.
She might get really attached to a certain stuffed toy or baby blanket, or she might be uninterested in every toy designed with a baby in mind that she is offered, and only really want to play with whatever it is you keep in your pockets, laptop bag, or purse. Baby’s options are endless, as the other three quarters of her first year stretches ahead of her. The only thing that’s certain is that it’s sure to be a wild ride.
Around this time, Baby continues to work on her communication skills and strength. You’ll probably hear her start to “talk” up a storm soon…if only those words meant anything! Make sure you engage Baby in this conversation often though, as it will help her learn the conventions of how people interact.
Baby is also getting stronger and stronger everyday, as she continues to develop through tummy time, and is getting closer to being able to sit up on her own – then it’s time to get moving!
Milestones
- Reaches for dangling objects: Just because she wants to grab an object, doesn’t mean they can, but around this time, Baby might start to grab for objects when held out in front of her. The coordination will come in the following weeks and months.
- Mimics facial expressions: Baby sure has been paying close attention to you, and around this time, she may be attempting to mimic facial expressions. She might do this with sounds, as well, which you should take as encouragement to keep Baby stimulated and engaged as much as possible!
