Monthly Baby Milestones Quotes

And then you arrive on the scene, Baby Willis. A little tiny Kung Fu Boy. And for a moment the backstories and fragments and scenes filled with background players and nonspeaking parts, it all makes a kind of sense, all of it leading to this. A family. They bring you home from the hospital, at which point everything speeds up. It’s a montage of first moments, all of the major and minor milestones: first step, first word, first time sleeping through the night. There are a few years in a family when, if everything goes right, the parents aren’t alone anymore, they’ve been raising their own companion, the kid who’s going to make them less alone in the world and for those years they are less alone. It’s a blur—dense, raucous, exhausting—feelings and thoughts all jumbled together into days and semesters, routines and first times, rolling along, rambling along, summer nights with all the windows open, lying on top of the covers, and darkening autumn mornings when no one wants to get out of bed, getting ready, getting better at things, wins and losses and days when it doesn’t go anyone’s way at all, and then, just as chaos begins to take some kind of shape, present itself not as a random series of emergencies and things you could have done better, the calendar, the months and years and year after year, stacked up in a messy pile starts to make sense, the sweetness of it all, right at that moment, the first times start turning into last times, as in, last first day of school, last time he crawls into bed with us, last time you’ll all sleep together like this, the three of you. There are a few years when you make almost all of your important memories. And then you spend the next few decades reliving them.

The muscles that allow us to talk are strengthened when we chew and swallow. As baby progresses from rooting for a nipple at birth, to more robust sucking, to eating her first mushy solids at age four to six months, she is preparing to utter her first words. Certain speech milestones correlate directly to baby’s eating milestones, for example, taking single sips from an open cup (not a sippy cup or bottle) correlates with advanced lip-movement sounds such as “w,” and being able to move food around inside the mouth enables baby to properly enunciate her words.

INTRODUCTION 0 to 3 MONTHS 1. Make the most of your hospital stay 2. Take care of your postpartum body 3. Take baby to the pediatrician . . . several times 4. Take newborn photos 5. Figure out breastfeeding 6. Get some sleep! 7. Manage Mom and Dad 8. Celebrate baby’s first milestones 9. Survive baby witching hour 10. Watch out for the blues 11. Get back in the sack 12. Get out of the house 13. Think about babywearing 3 to 6 MONTHS 14. Find your village 15. Prepare to go back to work, or not 16. Start some routines 17. Tame teething 18. Think about sleep training, or not 19. Teach baby sign language 20. Create a photo book 21. Reconnect with your partner 22. Don’t obsess over percentiles 23. Survive baby’s first illness 24. Make “me time” a priority 25. Interview sitters 26. Ready, Set, Eat: Start solid foods 6 to 9 MONTHS 27. Time to babyproof 28. Deal with separation anxiety 29. Work on those motor skills 30. Get back to your workouts 31. Plan a getaway 32. Start brushing teeth 33. Make mom friends 34. Start traditions 9 to 12 MONTHS 35. Get an adjustment 36. Ask for help 37. Think about discipline 38. Think about weaning, or not 39. Sign up for a mommy-and-me (or daddy-and-me) class 40. Take care of your diet 41. Capture your memories 42. Reignite your style 43. Embrace your new body 44. Trust your instincts 45. Book a couple’s getaway 46. Get your affairs in order 47. Do a cake smash photo shoot 48. Find a hobby 49. Learn to save money 50. Celebrate baby’s first birthday

If a baby continues growing at the same rate as in her first year, she'd be 170 feet tall as an adult.

Her first 12 months will see her come to understand the world around her, learn to recognise and communicate her needs, and develop an understanding of the language rules and expectations of her environment.

All babies are born with the same potential

Babies are born with the same number of neurons as adults but they haven't yet formed connections. Once connections are formed, the neurons become active

There are billions of tiny nerve endings underneath your baby's skin throughout her body, including the soles of her feet and palms of her hands. These nerve endings act like receptors, taking information from the outside world and sending it back up to baby's brain via a feedback loop along her nervous system.

There's an undeniable correlation between our early experiences and our later outlook on life.

There are a number of things you can do to support, stimulate and enhance your baby's development in her first 12 months, but she will ultimately develop at her own pace and in her own time.

In her first year of life, your baby's brain will double in size and by her first birthday it will be half the size of an adult brain.

We evolved as humans by carrying our babies on our bodies to ensure baby's welfare, protection and survival.

her arms and legs are curled up and she wont be able to extend them yet. This is a survival mechanism designed to keep your baby safe when she's most vulnerable. Similar to a hedgehog curling up into a ball when threat of danger, your baby instinctively remains in the foetal position until she's developed the strength to extend her limbs

The first 2 weeks after birth, mother's body is flooded with hormones, designed to ensure baby's survival. Oxytocin, a powerful bonding hormone (known as the love hormone) creates the euphoric feeling following childbirth and is the reason you're bursting with love for your new baby.

The first 9 months of a baby's life is often referred to as 'the second 9 months' or 'the fourth trimester

Leaving your baby to cry for extended periods triggers the release of cortisol into her bloodstream.

Your (newborn) baby will usually cry for one of the following reasons. She will either be hungry, tired/overwhelmed, or lonely/afraid. Each of these can be alleviated with breastfeeding. The hormones in your breast milk contain Oxytocin, a powerful 'happy hormone', which blocks cortisol from being released. This immediately inhibits the stress response and calms baby

researchers have even discovered that a newborn baby's grip is so strong that she can support her own body weight on one hand when she's dangled. (Don't ever, ever test this out, for your own baby's safety).

skin-to-skin contact triggers Oxytocin (the love hormone) to be released in both baby and mum. This encourages bonding between mother and baby, and it's more than likely the reason why midwives recommend immediate skin-to-skin contact after birth

The cells of your baby's body are unable to grow without loving contact. The genome responsible for growth enzymes stops production without loving contact. With only a few loving strokes, the genome is signalled and growth begins again.

Everything your baby experiences now will have a lasting impact on her cognitive growth in infancy, her core beliefs, sense of self, self-worth and her emerging personality.

If your baby starts reaching out to grab everything in sight, it's a sign that she's seeking stimulation.

Your baby will reach these milestones in her own time and when she's ready. Gentle encouragement may help her along but pushing her before she's ready will be counterproductive and harm her development in the long run.

What was once a mass of potential is now a complex system of neural pathways firing and storing information rapidly. These newly-formed neural pathways in your baby's brain lay the foundations for her later personality and ability to interact with the world.

Nature designed mothers to and babies to bond via the release of Oxytocin to ensure survival of our species. When a new baby is born, her mother's body is also flooded with this hormone, creating a feeling of euphoria

At 6 months old, your baby is halfway through her first year. She's passed through crucial developmental stages and has progressed from being wholly reliant upon your for her survival, to being able to move and communicate independently.

If your baby doesn't like tummy time, don't worry too much, and don't force her to lay on her front. As a species, humans have carried their babies on their bodies in slings and swaddles for thousands of years. Tummy time is a relatively new concept and traditionally, parents didn't lay babies on their tummies

Across all cultures throughout history, babies were worn in carriers on their mother's chest, until around 6 months when they were moved to the back so they could see the world the same way mother could. It's long been believed that baby-wearing helps with infant emotional and Psychological development, promoting attachment and bonding between mother and baby. Studies have shown that carrying an infant an extra two hours a day reduces crying by 43%.

You can soothe her whenever she's poorly, teething or growing, simply by holding her. Comforting your baby is the most effective and rewarding way to to soothe her when she's distressed.

There are thousands of tiny nerve endings in the soles of your baby's feet which send feedback to her brain via her nervous system. Every time she takes a step, the nerve endings receive information from the ground beneath and send that information to her brain. Her brain then uses this information to form neural connections. This is how all habits are formed. These neural connections eventually group together to form the region of her brain responsible for your baby's ability to walk.

The way you treat your child as a baby lays the foundation for your later relationship with her, and consequently, her later relationships with others.

Toe walking is common in the early weeks but if your baby continues this habit, mention it to her doctor. (Prolonged toe-walking can cause problems later on life).

Let your baby choose whether she wants broccoli or peas with her dinner, and what colour socks she wants to wear. Small choices will give your baby a sense of control over her environment and help her to feel more independent. This is a great way to reduce tantrums and defiant behaviour

The magic of raising a baby will stay with you for a lifetime

We take for granted the profound, innate abilities our babies are born with

The love you shower upon your baby in the early weeks will truly last a lifetime. Bear this in mind as you raise your precious baby.