Growth, Development, and Milestones.

Note: all of my information is coming from the book "What To Expect The First Year".

I know all babies develop differently. Each individual child learns to do things on their own time frame. I am simply blogging this because I was reading "My Baby Rides The Short Bus" and one of the dads did this for his son, to see which milestones he hit "on time" and the ones he was "behind". I want to see Wendy compared to "normal" babies her age.

Month 1:
Your baby should be able to: lift head briefly, focus on a face
Wendy could focus on our face and she found her hands this month.

Month 2:
Your baby should be able to: smile in response to your smile, follow an object, vocalize in ways other than crying (cooing)
At 9 weeks old Wendy could lift her head.

Month 3:
Your baby should be able to: on stomach- lift head up 45 degrees, follow an object 6 inches past midline
Wendy came home from the hospital this month. She was already sleeping through the night. When we put her on her tummy in her boppy pillow, she could hold her head up, not very steadily though.

Month 4:
Your baby should be able to: on stomach- lift head up 90 degrees, laugh out loud, follow an object 180 degrees.
Wendy had no new developments this month.

Month 5:
Your baby should be able to: hold head steady when upright, on stomach- raise chest supported by arms, roller over (one way), pay attention to a very small object, squeal in delight, reach for an object, smile spontaneously, grasp a rattle
During this month, Wendy smiled for the first time. She also learned to grasp toys.

Month 6:
Your baby should be able to: keep head leveled with body when pulled to sitting, say ah-goo or similar vowel-consonant combinations.
Wendy's sixth month of life, she found her feet and learned to roll onto her side. She can also turn the page of a thick plastic book.

Month 7:
Your baby should be able to: sit without support, feed self a cracker
This month, Wendy laughed out loud and got in her first tooth.

Month 8:
Your baby should be able to: bear weight on legs when held upright, pass object from one hand to another, turn in the direction of a voice, look for a dropped object
Wendy had been bearing weight on her legs since she was 4-5 months old. This month Wendy got her second tooth and rolled over.

Month 9:
Your baby should be able to: work to get a toy out of reach, look for dropped object
Wendy said "mama" and is learning to wave bye-bye. She is also babbling a ton.

Month 10:
Your baby should be able to: stand holding on to something, pull up to standing from sitting position, object if you take away a toy, say mama or dada indiscriminately, play peekaboo
Wendy can bear some weight on her legs but not enough stand but she will cry if you take away my iPhone. She loves that thing.

Here's my reality. Wendy is 9 months old (in her 10th month of life). She still can't sit alone and she is nowhere near standing or crawling. But she's not they far behind mentally. As long as she's happy, I'm happy, no matter the future hold or what milestones she will or won't reach.