During this month your baby will be able to sit with lesshelp but continue to support her head and shoulders. She will be able to focus enough to see her reflection in the mirror and will enjoy looking at herself often.Your little one will use her mouth and hands to discover objects so expose her to new textures. She will cry less as she discovers different ways to attract your attention. Continue to respond quickly to her cries and noises because this will make her feel loved and secure.
Motor Skills : Month 2
Gross Motor Skills
Your baby continues to progress from reflexive to voluntary movements. She can lift her head when placed on her back or her stomach and holds it in line with her body for short periods. She can now turn over unaided from her back to her stomach. Your child moves her legs vigorously and can coordinate the movements of her arms and legs on one side of her body, and canalso move her arms together or her legs together. She stands briefly when held and will automaticallytry to pull herself up off the ground when you reach out and hold both of her hands. Over the course of the month she will be able to sit with less help but you should still support her body and her head. Your baby will suck at her fingers and fists and can open and close her hands. She is be able to focus on herself in a mirror and adjusts her eyes to focus on different distances.
Fine Motor Skills
Her movements are still uncoordinated and she reaches for objects without being able to judge the distance or target, and is unlikely to grasp hold of them. She is beginning to understand near and far distances but will reach out with both her arms and may touch the object with closed rather than open hands. Your baby will use her hands as well as her mouth to discover an object. When something is placed in her hand she will hold on to it voluntarily for several seconds, but she won’t be able to pick it up when she drops it.
Language : Month 2
Your child will begin to form single syllable vowel like sounds and makes different noises depending on her need and emotion. She listens to your voice, distinguishes between different sounds and will also visually try to locate the sound. She will communicate with you through a wider range ofcries that you can easily distinguish, and she may start crying less as she begins to use other ways to attract your attention. She will start to imitate repetitive sounds and responds to you vocally when you talk to her.
Emotion : Month 2
Your baby will smile spontaneously and regularly and will recognize different family members. She may start crying if someone unfamiliar tries to pick her up or hold her, and conversely she may suddenly stop crying when someone familiar picks her up and holds her, as her awareness of familiar and unfamiliar people becomes heightened.
She vocalizes her feelings and differentiates her responses towards you and other members of the household, and will try to attract your attention.
Social stimulation is important at this age and your baby responds positively to activities, being around people, and when you talk to her. Your little one moves her body physically to express happiness and will use her arms and legs. She remembers routine and anticipates and responds with excitement to familiar activities such as feeding and bath time. Her patterns of sleeping, eating and being alert are usually regulated by now.
What Your Baby Enjoys : Month 2
Physical Activities
Your baby is discovering her body and as her muscle strengthincreases she uses her body in a range of activities. Help herby moving her body through activities like very gently bouncing her up and down while standing on your lap, or hanging objects thatmake a sound above her crib so she can reach out with her armsand legs and make them rattle and squeak. She can focus onobjects more clearly so you can read her storybooks and pointout the pictures. She enjoys games that involve movement such as peek-a-boo.
How Can You Help : Month 2
- Respond to her cries and her noises -it is her way of communicating with you.
- Allow your baby time to respond to you when you talk to her.
- Sing songs and nursery rhymes and rhyming games that involve her body.
- Give her toys that make sounds when she touches them.
- Place a mirror where she can look at herself.
- Play physical games such as pulling her arms up and down, tickling her feet, and bouncing her gently on your lap.
- Place objects slightly away from her and have her reach for them.
- Read stories with pictures so she can see them.
- Maintain eye contact with her when you are talking to her and feeding her so that she knows you are paying attention.
- Imitate the sounds she makes to give her positive feedbackthat she is being understood.
- Hold her standing upright so she begins to learn how to control her body and to balance.
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