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Experiments with means-ends, actions-reactions, heights and distances, generalization of solutions
Tries to make adults laugh with antics
Chooses toys and people that elicit positive emotions
Persists to find the means to get the desired result and experiments with different options
Explores face and body of adult
Moves away from adult, but maintains eye contact
Offers a child a toy; toy play becomes the center of social interaction with peers
Determines what is approved or not safe through social referencing
Demonstrates social referencing by looking to adult to see how she should feel
Understands “no” and obeys requests
Shows initial signs of empathy
Aware of own actions and implications
Prone: Crawls to explore environment
Rotates body to get into sitting position
May stand without support briefly
Still crawls to get somewhere fast
May take steps; if walking independently, uses wide base of support and uneven steps
May walk as primary means of locomotion
Sitting: Rotates hand up or down to orient to object
Combines two objects, for example puts one object on another
Tries to imitate adult marks on paper by banging dots or short marks
Grasp: Radial-digital grasp with wrist extended
Grasp: Inferior pincer grasp- between the thumb and pad of index finger; beginning thumb opposition
Release: Controls release of object into container
Release (of tiny object): Unsuccessful release into small container
Pokes fingers into small holes and explores toys with index finger
Moves objects from fingers to palm
Imitates use of a tool (e.g., comb, stirring with spoon, etc.)
Throws clothes in hamper with a prompt
Decrease in up-and-down jaw movement in cup drinking
Tips bottle to drink and self-feeds whole bottle
Recognizes and responds to up to 50 words in addition to sounds and gestures
Moves body to engage in social interaction with others
“Talks” with others in back and forth vocalizations
Responds to “Who’s that?” with a word or word approximation (e.g. “mama”)
Gives objects to another to request an action (e.g., hands toy to adult to activate) (e.g. “mama”)
Asks for help from adult with gesture or vocalization
Produces more back vowels, central vowels, and consonants
Imitates others coughs, laughs, funny sounds
Uses social gestures (e.g., bye-bye wave)
Points to known people and objects
Imitates behaviors such as washing and feeding the baby
Produces single, simple sounds/words for familiar objectsto communicate (e.g., “ba” for ball)
Turns pages (maybe more than one at a time)
Points to individual pictures when named by adult
Laughs at familiar pictures or adult’s sound effects
Attempts to imitate adult marks on paper by banging dots or making short marks
Remembers a strategy that worked on one object and tries it on another
Remembers label for an object without the object being present
Knows how to get objects to do what he wants
Participates in games of give-and-take and turn-taking
Imitates others actions and sounds
Moves from one toy to another to explore actions
Bounces to rhythm while standing
Looks at pictures for up to 1 minute
Vocalizes to music and tries to sing
Bounces to rhythm while standing
Makes random scribbles with crayon or marker using fisted grasp
Pretends to feed and bathe baby
Moves away from the parent, but maintains eye contact
Recognizes friends and relatives seen frequently
Demonstrates separation distress
Gender stereotyping not evident in toy preferences
Identification with the same gender (recognizes similarity)
Nests smaller container in a larger one
Amount: Puts as many small objects in a cup as possible, showing interest in adding “more”
Determines what the whole image is based on seeing part of the image
Uses cross-modal (vision, taste, touch, sound, etc.) approaches to determine object's properties
Categorizes and distinguishes objects by function or behavior
Adjusts grasp and reach to size and distance
Unwraps and finds hidden toys under and in cloths, continues to search if not found the first try
Explores materials indoors and outside to compare characteristics
 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015
©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.