Motor development

• May stand on own for a few seconds without support.
• May walk on own or still practicing by building up leg muscles to walk independently in a couple of months. Keep in mind that all children begin to walk at different age.
• Enjoys throwing balls.

Intellectual and language development

• Your baby may now have a small collection of words such as 'bye" or "hi" that she enjoys saying.
• She will also enjoy babbling short sentences that only she understands!
• The average number of words for a 12-month old is three.   He may say parts of words such as "ba" for "ball.
• She can now understand that certain objects do certain things. For instance, a brush for brushing hair or a spoon stirs.
• She can now use simple gestures, such as nodding head, for yes and pointing.

Social and emotional development

• Shows you when she needs some help.
• Loves to imitate and play simple games with you.
• Will assert independence and insist upon feeding himself  (very messily probably!) - This is a great age to offer finger foods. Another good idea is to have two spoons at meal times - one for your toddler and one for you. Hopefully, some food will make it in to the mouth!
• May begin to show resistance to taking naps and going to sleep at night time .

Ways to encourage your baby's growth and learning

• Hold your baby's hands while she walks around the house exploring new things.
• Use books with pictures of real objects. Often your baby will look at the correct object when named and may point to familiar objects.
• Talk often to your 12-month old--they are paying very close attention to your speech and language. Just give a running commentary on what you're doing as you go about your daily tasks. Your baby will really enjoy this no matter how mundane it sounds to you!

You may also be interested in...

• Activities to do with your toddler 12-18 months
• Here are a few ideas on how to enjoy, play with and encourage your toddler's learning and development.
• more

• Activities to do with your toddler 18-24 months
• Here are a few ideas on playing, learning and growing with your 18-24 month old
• more

• Avoiding BPA in toddler products
• Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that has been used for over 40 years to produce polycarbonate plastics (typically has recycling code #7 or “PC”) and the epoxy resin that lines canned food to prevent the can from rusting and contaminating the food.
• more

• Building your toddler's muscles for writing
• Simple activities for developing your toddler's fine motor skills.
• more