From the day your baby’s born, his eyes will aid his physical, mental, and emotional development by allowing him to take in information — a little bit at first, and eventually much more — about the world around him.

When it develops

Unlike a baby’s hearing, which is fully mature by the end of his first month outside the womb, the sense of sight develops gradually over 6 to 8 months, at which point your baby will see the world almost as well as you do.

While your newborn’s eyes are physically capable of seeing just fine at birth, his brain isn’t ready to process all that visual information, so things stay pretty fuzzy for a while. As his brain develops, so does his ability to see clearly, giving him the tools he needs to understand and manage his environment. Though your baby starts out life being able to see only as far as your face when you hold him, his range of clarity grows steadily, month by month.

How it develops

At first your baby can’t focus farther than 8 to 15 inches away — just far enough to make out the face of the person holding him. He can detect light, shapes, and movement beyond that, but it’s all pretty blurry right now. Appropriately enough, your face is the most fascinating thing to your baby at this age (followed by high-contrast patterns such as a checkerboard), so be sure to give him plenty of up-close time.

1 month
At birth your baby didn’t know how to use his eyes in tandem, so they may have wandered randomly or even crossed now and then. This month or next, he’ll be able to consistently focus both eyes and track a moving object. A rattle passed in front of his face will often transfix him as he explores this newfound ability. He may also enjoy playing eyes-to-eyes with you: With your face very close to his, move your head slowly from side to side, with your eyes and his eyes locked.

2 months
Your baby could see color from birth, but he had difficulty distinguishing similar tones, such as red and orange. That’s one reason he preferred black-and-white or high-contrast patterns. For the next few months, his brain’s at work learning to distinguish colors. As a result, he’ll probably begin to show a preference for bright primary colors and more detailed and complicated designs. Encourage this development by showing him pictures, photos, books, and toys. For the next couple of months, he’ll also be perfecting his object-tracking skills.

4 months
Your baby’s beginning to develop depth perception. Until now, it was tough for him to locate an object’s position, size, and shape, then get a message from his brain to his hand to reach out and grasp it. At 4 months, he has both the motor development to handle the task and the maturity in his brain circuitry to coordinate all the moves needed to accomplish it. You can help him practice by offering him easy-to-grasp toys like rattles (otherwise he’ll go for your easy-to-grasp hair, glasses, or earrings).

How does your baby learn about his connection to other people? When does he start making friends? It all starts with you, his parents. You are your child’s first playmates, his favorite people. He delights at the sound of your voices, the sight of your faces, and the touch of your hands. With your help, your baby will become familiar with others and begin to enjoy their company, too. This is the beginning of the development of your child’s social skills.
When it develops

From the moment he’s born, your baby will respond to others. His ability to socialize will be largely limited to you during his first year, as he focuses most of his efforts on discovering what he can do on his own — like grabbing and picking up objects, walking, and other skills.

Around the time he turns 2, your child will begin to enjoy playing interactively with other children. As with any other skill, he’ll need some trial and error to polish his social skills. At first, he’ll be unable to share his toys, but as he learns to empathize with others he’ll become a better playmate. By age 3, he’ll be well on his way to making friends.
How it develops

1 month
Your baby is a social creature from the get-go. He loves to be touched, held, and cooed and smiled at. As early as the first month, your child will begin to experiment with making faces at you. He’ll enjoy watching your face and may even mimic some of your gestures. Stick out your tongue and watch as he does the same.

3 months
Now your baby will spend many of his waking hours watching what goes on around him. He’ll even flash his first genuine smile, a momentous event for most parents. Soon he’ll be an expert at “smile talk,” starting an interaction with you by sending a smile your way and gurgling at the same time.

4 months
Your baby is becoming more open to new people at this age, greeting them with squeals of glee. Still, no one comes close to Mom and Dad. Your baby will reserve his most enthusiastic reaction for you, a sure sign that you’ve bonded.

7 months
For the most part, your little guy is far too busy honing his skills to be really engaged with another child. When two babies under 1 are put next to each other with a set of toys, they usually play side by side but not with each other.

Your baby may start to take a fleeting interest in other babies now that he’s more mobile. Most of the interaction will be limited to a glance and a grab, but once in a while he’ll smile and coo or imitate another baby’s sounds.

He still prefers his immediate family to all others. He may even begin to be afraid of unfamiliar people and struggle with separation anxiety.

12 months
Toward the end of his first year, your child may begin to seem antisocial — crying when you leave his side or anxious when he’s in the arms of someone other than you or your partner. Many kids go through separation anxiety, which peaks sometime between 10 and 18 months. Your child will prefer you to the exclusion of others and may be distressed when you’re not around. Sometimes only your presence will calm him.

Sitting independently gives your baby a new perspective on the world. Once his back and neck muscles are strong enough to hold him upright and he’s figured out where to put his legs so he won’t topple over, it’s just a matter of time until he moves on to crawling, standing, and walking.

When it develops

Your baby will probably learn to sit independently between the ages of 4 and 7 months. This is about the same time that he’ll master rolling over and holding his head up. About 90 percent of babies can sit well for several minutes without support by the time they’re 8 months old. (Even babies who’ve mastered sitting will topple over eventually, often because they lose interest in being upright.)

How it develops

While you can prop your baby in a sitting position almost from day one, true independent sitting doesn’t begin until he has head control. Starting at about 4 months, your baby’s neck and head muscles strengthen rapidly, and he’ll learn to raise and hold his head up while he’s lying on his stomach.

Next he’ll figure out how to prop himself up on his arms and hold his chest off the ground, sort of a mini-pushup. By 5 months he may be able to sit momentarily without assistance, though you should stay nearby to provide support and surround him with pillows to cushion a possible fall.

Soon your baby will figure out how to maintain his balance while seated by leaning forward on one or both arms. By 7 months he’ll probably be able to sit unsupported (which will free his hands for exploring), and he’ll learn how to pivot to reach a desired object while sitting. At this point he may even be able to get from his tummy into a sitting position by pushing up on his arms. By the time he’s 8 months old, he’ll likely be sitting well without support.

What’s next

You can guess what comes after your baby figures out that he can lunge forward from a sitting position and balance on his hands and knees. He may get the hang of moving forward (or backward) on all fours as early as 6 or 7 months, and master crawling by 10 months. Your child is now both very mobile and very curious, so childproofing is very important now.

By the way, most pediatricians recommend waiting until your baby is sitting with minimal support before starting him on solid foods.

Big Baby

Here are 10 easy Things for Dude to Do to Keep wifey Happy.

1. dlfjdlkfj
2. dlkfjdslkf
3. ldk
4. l;dkjf
5. l;kjdf
6. lkj
7. l;kdjf
8. lkdj
9. l;kjd
10. dlkfj