Gross Motor Skills
Your baby is testing her strength and wants to be more independent. She will prefer to walk rather than be pushed in a pram if she is not tired. She will attempt to pick up, push and pull large objects and is learning about weights and gravity and learns to adjust her body accordingly. She will tug and drag objects and so you may find they have moved while you are not in the room. She can walk up the stairs if you hold her hand and may be able to stand on one foot.
Fine Motor Skills
She will not yet be able to coordinate her hands and feet, and she lacks agility in her wrists. Her skill at building towers with blocks and objects continues to develop and she can climb a three-step ladder.
Language : Month 16
She will hold long conversations with you and you will be able to understand several words. She is more precise in imitating and she can combine several different words within a sentence. She understands more words than she can vocalize, but her uptake is still very slow. She now uses language more than gestures to tell you what she wants.
Emotion : Month 16
When your baby is frustrated she may show anger towards you and hit out, but she is unlikely to do this to strangers because she trusts that you won’t hit her back. She responds appropriately to your emotions and the tones of your voice. She is much more social, likes to be played with and adapts better to unfamiliar people. She is enthralled by taking things and finds the concept of giving more difficult to master. She may be scared and startled because of the loud noises of thunder and lightning so give her lots of cuddlesand make her feel secure during a storm. She may also be afraid of large animals such as dogs and horses. She wants to be independent and also to control other people, and so she may be stubborn, negative or forceful if she doesn’t get her own way.
Learning : Month 16
She imitates adult behavior such as reading the newspaper, and doing the housework. She can do simple household chores, helps put her toys away, takes off her shoes, and imitates your gestures, like blowing on food when it is hot. She can turn on a tap so you need to watch that she doesn’t leave it running. She is still very curious and will open bags and unwrap packages. She is more skillful using her hands and her scribbles are more controlled.
What Your Baby Enjoys : Month 16
She enjoys picking up objects, pushing them and moving them from one place to another. She likes playing “hide and seek” and to play with sand in a sandbox. She loves it when you pay her attention and she will perform for you, copying your actions and getting you to laugh and giggle with her. She likes hitting objects and enjoys hammering and banging. She is fascinated with water and loves to pour it into containers and empty them again, as well as to splash about.
How Can You Help : Month 16
- Set up a small paddling pool containing water that she can play in.
- Give her a plastic hammer that makes a squeaky noise when she hits objects – she will go around hitting everything (including you).
- Let her play with old cardboard boxes
