Developmental Milestones

Social and emotional

• Begins to develop a social smile
• Enjoys playing with other people and may cry when playing stops
• Becomes more expressive and communicates more with face and body
• Imitates some movements and facial expressions

Movement

• Raises head and chest when lying on stomach
• Supports upper body with arms when lying on stomach
• Stretches legs out and kicks when lying on stomach or back
• Opens and shuts hands
• Pushes down on legs when feet are placed on a firm surface
• Brings hand to mouth
• Takes swipes at dangling objects with hands
• Grasps and shakes hand toys

Vision

• Watches faces intently
• Follows moving objects
• Recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance
• Starts using hands and eyes in coordination

Hearing and Speech

• Smiles at the sound of your voice
• Begins to babble
• Begins to imitate some sounds
• Turns head toward direction of sound

Social and emotional

• Enjoys social play
• Interested in mirror images
• Responds to other people’s expressions of emotion

Cognitive

• Finds partially hidden object
• Explores with hands and mouth
• Struggles to get objects that are out of reach

Language

• Responds to own name
• Begins to respond to “no”
• Can tell emotions by tone of voice
• Responds to sound by making sounds
• Uses voice to express joy and displeasure
• Babbles chains of sounds

Movement

• Rolls both ways (front to back, back to front)
• Sits with, and then without, support on hands
• Supports whole weight on legs
• Reaches with one hand
• Transfers object from hand to hand
• Uses hand to rake objects

Vision

• Develops full color vision
• Distance vision
• Ability to track moving objects improves and appears joyful often

Social and emotional

• Shy or anxious with strangers
• Cries when mother or father leaves
• Enjoys imitating people in play
• Shows specific preferences for certain people and toys
• Tests parental responses to actions during feedings
• Tests parental responses to behavior
• May be fearful in some situations
• Prefers mother and/or regular caregiver over all others
• Repeats sounds or gestures for attention
• Finger-feeds self
• Extends arm or leg to help when being dressed

Cognitive

• Explores objects in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping)
• Finds hidden objects easily
• Looks at correct posture when the image is named
• Imitates gestures
• Begins to use objects correctly (drinking from cup, brushing hair, dialing phone)

Language

• Pays increasing attention to speech
• Responds to simple verbal requests
• Responds to “no”
• Uses simple gestures suck as shaking head for “no”
• Babbles with inflection (changes in tone)
• Says “dada” and “mama”
• Uses exclamations, such as “Oh-oh!”
• Tries to imitate words

Social and Emotional

• Imitates behavior of others, especially adults and older children
• More aware of themselves as separate from others
• More excited about company of other children

Emotional

• Demonstrates increasing independence
• Begins to show defiant behavior
• Separation anxiety increases toward midyear then fades

Cognitive

• Finds objects even when hidden under two or three covers
• Begins to sort by shapes and colors
• Begins to make-believe play

Language

• Points to object or picture when it’s named for him
• Recognizes names of familiar people, objects, and body parts
• Says several single words (by 15 to 18 months)
• Uses simple phrases (by 18 to 24 months)
• Uses 2 to 4 word sentences
• Follows simple instructions
• Repeats words overheard in conversation

Movement

• Walks alone
• Pulls toys behind themselves while walking
• Carries large toy or several toys while walking
• Begins to run
• Stands on tiptoe
• Kicks a ball
• Climbs onto and down from furniture unassisted
• Walks up and down stairs holding onto support

Hand and Finger Skills

• Scribbles on their own
• Turns over container to pour out contents
• Builds tower of four blocks or more
• Might use one hand more often than the other

Social and Emotional

• Imitates adults and playmates
• Spontaneously shows affection for familiar playmates
• Can take turns in games
• Understands concept of “mine” and “his/hers”

Emotional

• Expresses affection openly
• Expresses a wide range of emotions
• By 3 years, separates easily from parents
• Objects to major changes in routine

Cognitive

• Makes mechanical toys work
• Matches an object in her hand or room to picture in a book
• Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
• Sorts objects by shapes and color
• Completes puzzles with three or four pieces
• Understands concept of “two”

Language

• Follows a two or three part command
• Recognizes and identifies almost all common objects and pictures
• Understands most sentences
• Understands placement in space (“on”, “in”, “under”)
• Uses 4 to 5 word sentences
• Can say name, age and sex
• Uses pronouns (I, you, me, we, they) and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats)
• Strangers can understand most of her words

Movement

• Climbs well
• Walks up and down stairs, alternating feet (one foot per stair step)
• Kicks ball
• Runs easily
• Pedals tricycle
• Bends over easily without failing

Hand and Finger Skills

• Makes up-and-down, side-to-side and circular lines with pencil or crayon
• Turns book pages one at a time
• Builds a tower of more than six blocks
• Holds a pencil in writing position
• Screws and unscrews jar lids, nuts and bolts
• Turns rotating handles

Social and Emotional

• Interested in new experiences
• Cooperates with other children
• Plays “mom” or “dad”
• Increasingly inventive in fantasy play
• Dresses and undresses
• Negotiates solutions to conflicts
• More independent

Emotional

• Imagines that many unfamiliar images may be “monsters”
• Views self as a whole person involving body, mind and feelings
• Often cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality

Cognitive

• Correctly names some colors
• Understands the concept of counting and may know a few numbers
• Tries to solve problems from a single point of view
• Begins to have a clearer sense of time
• Follows three-part commands
• Recalls parts of a story
• Understands the concepts of “same” and “different”
• Engages in fantasy play

Language

• Has mastered some basic rules of grammar
• Speaks in sentences of five to six words
• Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand
• Tells stories

Movement

• Hops and stands on one foot up to five seconds
• Goes upstairs and downstairs without support
• Kicks ball forward
• Throws ball overhand
• Catches bounced ball most of the time
• Moves forward and backward with agility

Hand and Finger Skills

• Copies square shapes
• Draws a person with two to four body parts
• Uses scissors
• Draws circles and squares
• Begins to copy some capital letters

Social and Emotional

• Wants to please friends
• Wants to be like their friends
• More likely to agree to rules
• Likes to sing, dance and act
• Shows more independence and may even visit next-door neighbors by themselves

Emotional

• Aware of gender
• Able to distinguish fantasy from reality
• Sometimes demanding, sometimes eagerly cooperative

Cognitive

• Can count 10 or more objects
• Correctly names at least four colors
• Better understands the concept of time
• Knows about things used every day in the home (money, food, appliances)

Language

• Recalls part of a story
• Speaks sentences of more than five words
• Uses future tense
• Tells longer stories
• Says name and address

Movement

• Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
• Hops, somersaults
• Swings, climbs
• May be able to skip

Hand and Finger Skills

• Copies triangle and other shapes
• Draws person with body
• Prints some letters
• Dresses and undresses without help
• Uses fork, spoon and (sometimes) a table knife
• Usually cares for own toilet needs