Developmental Milestones

Developmental Milestones
photo by: hypertypos
National Dissemination Center for Children With Disabilities

Childhood is a time of tremendous growth and learning. How very exciting to be a baby...or a two-year-old... or get on a school bus for the first time. There's so much to know, and we all come into the world like small waiting sponges, ready to absorb what's around us.

We're all different, too, another of life's little marvels. We're a spectrum of colors with differing talents, interests, and physical make-ups. So it comes as no surprise that we also develop at different rates. Some children speed along, practically running before they walk. Others take their time--or need more time. And still others may ultimately need four wheels to get around.

Parents, siblings, grandparents, daycare providers, teachers, and friends watch eagerly for each new step and progression in a child's skills. If a skill is not learned "on time," they may worry. Juana's not sitting up yet, but the baby next door is. Hannah should be talking in full sentences by now! Frank and Ahmed aren't learning to read as easily as the rest of the class. But what's "on time?" What's "normal?" Surely "normal" has a range?

Not only do new moms and dads anxiously (and exhaustedly) await the time when baby sleeps all through the night, but the earliest years are filled with a wonderland of firsts-the first smile, first laugh, first steps, and first word. When do all these miraculous firsts usually occur?

Excerpted below are just a few of many milestones a typically developing child reaches in the first year of life.

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