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After last the realization that his hands are an extension of himself, your baby may be starting to learn to control them. He can move his legs and arms at will, and his grasp is now sometimes voluntary, not just reflex-based. It’s a slow process – but ultimately a rewarding one!

Now that your baby has a little bit (and we really mean little) of fine motor control, he is able to better explore the world around him. The main way he does that at this stage is by bringing objects into his mouth. The inside of his mouth is still the most familiar means of interacting with his world – it’s the way he was wired right out of the womb in order to make eating an instinctive ability.

Your four-month-old is beginning to learn how to control her body – specifically her arms and legs. By now, she will most likely be starting to reach for things intentionally. You can help her figure out how to do it by guiding her hand toward the object she’s trying to reach.

Your baby’s mind is absorbing more and more input as the days and weeks progress. He can recognize human facial patterns easily and he’s able to turn towards sounds he hears

Your four-month-old baby now likely has a very clear mental template for the human face. That means she can recognize the pattern of a face wherever she sees it. It also means she’s getting better at learning faces and will now recognize not only your face, but that of others who are often in her field of view (grandparents, close friends, etc.). She’ll be interested in faces she doesn’t recognize, though she may not respond to them as favorably as she does to yours.

At four months, your little one is finding new ways to express herself. Many of her movements and vocalizations so far have seemed like self-expression but have really just been random. Now, you may see her starting to intentionally move and make sounds.

As he exerts more control over his limbs, your four-month-old is also learning to control his voice. He’s started to experiment with the different sorts of sounds he can make, as well as playing with tone – sometimes he’ll be high pitched, and sometime a bit lower. He’s even started to babble, using sounds that approximate the syllables he hears you use when you’re talking.

Your little one’s personality is really starting to emerge. At four months, she’s started to use her whole body to communicate how she’s feeling – especially when she’s feeling good! She’s now wriggling and squealing when she finds something especially delightful. She may also laugh when something you do strikes her as funny. A lot of parents say their child’s laughter is one of the most satisfying sounds in the world.

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