He understands that conversations have natural pauses where he can speak and then listen. He is beginning to recognize that objects can be grouped according to common characteristics such as color. You may notice that he expresses negative emotions more frequently and he will throw tantrums if he doesn’t get his own way.
Puzzles and activities requiring greater precision of movement will be of great interest to him and this means there are plenty of ways he can be stimulated, even while playing on his own.
Motor Skills : Month 11
Gross Motor Skills
Your baby may have begun to walk but he still prefers crawling and is more confident doing so. As he is now mobile and wants to move around, he will usually perform a combination of walking, cruising and crawling. He walks when supported and may even run and climb with support. He is able to do several things at once while walking, such as holding a toy, waving, and bending over. He may climb out of his crib so he needs to be watched more often. He can sit down gracefully and may be able to lower himself onto a small chair. You can introduce swimming as a new activity if you haven’t done so already.
Fine Motor Skills
He has a preference for using one hand over the other and holds an object with his weaker hand while performing the action with his dominant hand. He rotates a spoon to place it in his mouth and twists objects such as handles and knobs. He is better at building towers and moving objects more precisely.
He can reach for objects without looking, makes lines with crayons and is more precise when using a shape sorter. He knows that objects are separate to him and can be rotated, reversed, taken apart and put back together.
At this stage he will probably not be able to put what he takes apart back together but he will make valiant efforts to figure out all sorts of objects and their moving parts. He may want to take part in dressing and undressing himself.
Language : Month 11
His vocalizing more closely imitates the sounds of real speech. He knows how to express himself and his emotions through language and practices the words he already knows. He may use up to eight words with meaning but don’t expect his pronunciation to be perfect because there are still many vowels and consonants that he won’t master until he is around 3 years old.
He remembers people names, and follows conversations, and will often try to speak in the gaps of people’s conversations. He can link objects together that have commonality, such as animals, or things that fly. He responds to instructions and can make you understand what he wants. The predominant learning method is to still to tell him a word and then show him the object, like pointing to a dog and saying, “Show me the dog” but he will soon recognize the word just by hearing it.
Emotion : Month 11
He freely expresses emotion and recognizes when others display emotion. He has developed a preference for certain people and is fearful of strangers and being left alone, but loves company when surrounded by familiar people.
He is wary around strangers and prefers to be close to you, so introduce new people gradually and make sure you stay close by. He uses parents to defend himself if he feels his rights have been violated. Negativism is more apparent, with him displaying displeasure, protest, and anger more frequently.
On the up side, he gives affection generously and his sense of humor is more developed. He is developing a strong sense of self and wants to be more independent, feeding himself and making decisions, such as refusing to eat or to take a nap.
What Your Baby Enjoys - Month 11
Walking
He loves his new mobility and will spend lots of time walking, crawling and enjoying his freedom. He often lacks confidence, so praise him when he stands and walks and encourage him to take small steps by placing yourself a little distance away and then hold out your arms for him to walk towards you. The more times he walks successfully the bolder he will be, and his physical confidence with continue to develop.
Drawing
He loves bright colors and being in control of his actions, so drawing is a great activity for him. He doesn’t need special coloring books; just some plain paper and crayons in primary colors will delight him. Sit with him and draw together to show him you are interested, and praise him when he makes marks on the paper: he is learning to control his body and his movements.
How Can You Help : Month 11
- Give him activity boards with knobs, buttons and handles that he can manipulate.
- Encourage him to move about in the bath using swimming motions.
- Let him play with water outside of bath time, such as filling up a shallow bucket or introducing a paddling pool, and make sure he is supervised.
- Get him to walk towards you either using furniture for assistance, or taking short steps on his own.
- Let him play with simple puzzles and help him complete them if needed.
- Read stories about babies and use these to show him how he is loved and protected.
- Congratulate him when you understand his speech.
- Encourage him to feed and dress himself
- Give him objects he can group together, such as shoes, colored blocks, and items that come in pairs of shapes.
- Encourage him to play with other babies in the same area and to share his toys.
