Your little one can now perceive that size matters. They know when an object is big or small and may adjust their actions accordingly — pincer grip for tiny objects, both hands for larger ones.

What you can do: Offer objects of varying sizes. Notice how they adjust their approach. This is early spatial and tactile reasoning.

As your little one crawls along, they'll soon be using furniture and maybe even your legs and feet to support corrections in posture and balance. These experiments with using stable objects to support themselves will eventually lead to standing up.

What you can do: Ensure furniture is stable. Let baby pull up on your hands and legs. Hold them steady but let them do the work.

You can finally try a game of ball with your baby! They can probably sit on the floor and catch a slow-moving ball rolled right to them. Don't expect them to send it back your way yet.

What you can do: Roll a soft ball slowly toward baby. Cheer when they catch it. This is the beginning of ball play — a social and fine motor milestone.

Balance and coordination milestones begin to emerge from Month 6 with sitting. The foundations are being built through tummy time and reflexive movement right now.

Your nine-month-old is beginning to understand what certain objects are for. During exploratory play, they'll begin to assign purposes that make sense — a block is for banging on the floor, a button is for pushing, a toy phone is for putting to your ear.

What you can do: Use objects for their intended purpose in baby's view — talk on a toy phone, stir with a spoon. They're watching and cataloguing.

Imaginative and creative development begins to emerge around 12–18 months. Right now, your baby is building the sensory and cognitive foundations that will support creativity later.

Your little one may be starting to solve problems more creatively — they'll recognize the potential of objects as tools. For example, they might use one toy to manipulate another that's out of reach.

What you can do: Set up simple "tool problems" — a toy slightly out of reach, another toy they could use to drag it closer. Let them figure it out.

Your nine-month-old's list of words they understand is growing. They may grasp the abstract relationship between an object's name and its function — getting excited when they hear "toy," looking at daddy when asked where daddy is, associating "meow" with cat.

What you can do: Name everything consistently. Build sound-object associations: meow when you see a cat in a book, woof for dog, vroom for car. Repetition builds these associations into lasting pathways

Social sharing and cooperation emerge from Month 6. Right now, the most important social development is the bond forming between your baby and their primary caregivers.

When your little one wants something, they likely know how to tell you. They may wave goodbye when it's time to go, or lift their arms toward you when they want to be held. Their babbling has started to sound more complex and diverse, like the sounds of a real language — stringing lots of different syllables together just like you do when you speak.

What you can do: Honour every gesture with a consistent response. When they lift their arms, say "You want up!" and pick them up. This maps words to experiences.

Self-expression begins to emerge from Month 4 onward. For now your baby's expressions are largely reflexive — but you may already notice patterns beginning to hint at their unique emerging personality.

Security and happiness are built through consistent, responsive caregiving in the early months. Every time you respond to your baby's cues, you are building the secure attachment that underpins all future emotional development and wellbeing.