What a difference a year makes! Here I look into what’s in store for Jonas over the next 12 months of his life…

Physical Development

Physical development consists of both gross and fine motor development and whilst every child develops at their own pace, there are certain milestones all my little ones have achieved by 12 months. All of my boys have either been very good crawlers and cruising on furniture easily or walking by this point. Tobias was waking at 10 months, Hamish at 13 months, Seth took his first steps on his first birthday and Jonas is super close to starting too!

By 12 months, a child also has mastered the pincer grasp and can hold objects as small as a raisin between forefinger and thumb. By 18 months, Jonas may be able to throw a ball overhead and try to catch it. He may be able to kick a ball, climb into an adult chair or onto the sofa, walk outside and run (or toddle should I say). He should be able to build a tower of two to three blocks in the next coming months and even screw on a water bottle top or put on a pen cap. He will start to scribble with a pencil and his ability to feed himself with a spoon and fork will become more easier for him.

Behaviour

Separation anxiety is typical between 8 and 14 months old. Jonas is definitely in full swing with this milestone and doesn’t even like going to his dad at times. Because of his knowledge of him being a separate entity to me now, its not surprising that he will soon start to show some independence from time to time (also known as the early start of toddler tantrums).

Other notable behaviours include Jonas’ obsession with throwing anything and everything on the floor. This is just him becoming curious about the world!

Language

A 1 year old has a pretty limited vocabulary. There are probably a few words here and there, or noises like mama, dada, baba. At the moment, it’s just important that he responds to other’s when being spoken too. Over the course of the next year, i should start to hear single words on their own. Jonas will also start to be able to follow simple directions.

Health

Jonas will be due his next set of immunisations! We’ve already had his 1 year health visitor review that raised no concerns. Sleep should start to become a 12 hour overnight stint (whoop)! And eating wise should increase intake of foods and his milk amounts should go down. Eventually he will only need one milk feed before bed! I’m looking forward to this stage! The only other thing I need to do this year for Jonas is register him at the dentist and get him on regular check ups – just to get him feeling relaxed at visiting. The introduction of whole milk into his diet has officially started, so thankfully that’s one less purchase on the weekly shopping trip. However it does mean we have come to a stop of breastfeeding, Boo! This time round it has flown!

Sleep Naps

Between 15 to 18 months is when baby will typically drop the morning nap and instead he will take one long siesta in the middle of the day (for about 2 hours).

Social Development

In the first year, social interactions are largely connected with the parents and immediate family. But from age one, babies will point and vocalise to communicate. Usually at this age is when I have put the others into a nursery setting. With Jonas I can’t decide what to do for the best as it would mean another drop off point (to the 2 I already do) and I don’t particularly need him out of my space at the moment. However i know from experience it does them a world of good to be away from me and meet other people.

Education

A 1-year-old should respond to his name and start pointing and identifying his nose, eyes, mouth, etc. I think Tobias was 16 months old when he became engaged in these activities. Parents often get wrapped up in whether their child is hitting its milestones on time. The best advice I can give is to just have fun with your child. Children rouse our imagination, make our lives more unpredictable, and make us do things we never in a million years thought we would do! So we might as well enjoy it, because most of the time we can’t control it! Ha!

Much love Rebecca