Have fun helping your baby develop these skills.
Physical skills: Your baby loves to imitate you. Get on the floor and
crawl with your baby. Play “Follow the Leader.” Sit on the floor with her
and let her copy your emotions. For example, bang on an empty box with a
wooden spoon. Give the spoon to your baby and help her to bang too.
Emotional skills: Help your baby feel pride in what she does. Talk to her
all through the day. Tell her she is growing strong. Tell her she is smart or
kind. For example, Alma crawls toward the telephone when she hears it
ring. Say, “Wow, you know that the phone is ringing. You go right to it.”
Intellectual skills: Help your baby learn about sizes. Give her two or
three empty boxes. Talk about the biggest, smallest, tallest, widest, longest
and shortest box.
Social skills: Show your baby how to touch gently. When she grabs your
hair, for example, say in a calm voice, “That hurts me. Hold your hand like
this and pat Mommy’s hair gently.” While you say the words, hold your
baby’s hand open. Hold it while you slowly pat and smooth your head.
Language skills: Play lots of echo games. Call out sounds like la, la, la
or ba, ba, ba. Encourage your baby to repeat the sounds. If she makes
sounds, echo her. This will get her ready for saying real words.