Month 9

Mental Development

• Recognise familiar games and rhymes
• Pay careful attention to people, things and activities happening in their environment
• Examine and manipulate objects with great interest
• Vocalise on purpose as a way to communicate

Visual Development

• Track falling objects and know where to look for them
• Distinguish familiar faces from those of strangers

Growth

• Weigh about 8.2 kg if she’s a girl or about 8.9 kg if he’s a boy
• Be about 70.1 cm tall if she’s a girl or about 72.0 cm tall if he’s a boy

Motor Development

• Use their index finger and thumb to “pincer-grasp” objects
• Pull themselves up to a standing position and maintain it briefly
• Wiggle while lying on their stomach, and perhaps start to crawl
• Have good balance and be able to sit for 10-15 minutes at a time

Social and Emotional Development

• Start to make likes and dislikes clear by behaving eagerly or resisting
• Reach the peak of their anxiety about strangers