17 weeks - www.kidspot.com.au baby’s first year update

Baby's First Year Kidspot Welcome to week 17! This Week Your Baby Is: Looking at herself While mirrors are often a feature of many baby gyms, it isn't until about four months that your baby will begin to understand that she's looking at a person - and it will be some time after this before she understands that she's looking at herself. Playing with a mirror helps your baby learn about her world and begins to give her some understanding that there are other children just like her. Most babies love to spend time looking in a mirror - they enjoy chatting to the little person in there, and make the astounding discovery that if they stick their tongue out, then so will their mirror-friend. And most amazing of all, sometimes your baby can't see her friend in the mirror! Where did she go? Discover the best baby toys. Hot Topic: Blowing raspberries The raspberry, or razzing noise, is as much a feature of your baby's first year milestones as learning to crawl - once he's mastered blowing raspberries, they will be the only sound you hear out of his mouth for weeks to come. They are, after all, extremely funny! And even more amusing once he starts eating solid food - a mouthful of rice cereal, blow a raspberry and suddenly mummy has rice cereal in her hair. Hilarious! At this age, much of his developmental progress is focussed on developing the skills necessary for speech later in the year, and blowing raspberries is just one of these foundation steps. Yes, it's a great party trick and one that usually gets a great reaction from adults, but by learning to blow a raspberry your baby is also strengthening his facial muscles and learning how to control the different parts of his mouth, tongue and face so that they work together to produce sound. Find more on speech development for babies Kidspot Tip: Making music A great way to entertain your baby is to set her up with her very own mini drum-kit. Prop her between your legs and arrange a variety of upside-down empty containers around her. Using a couple of sticks - chop-sticks work well, or two paintbrushes - first start tapping away to get different sounds from the containers and show her how it is done. If she has a strong grasp, you may like to give her a stick and let her have a go, too (although do watch that she doesn't poke herself with her 'drum' stick) or she may enjoy scrunching paper or plastic in time to your rock-star efforts! Learning to play in the first year My to do list • Kidspot Social: Join today and share photos of baby with family and friends. • Find pre-loved toys for baby at Kidspot Market • Easy meal ideas and recipes for busy mums Easy Recipes Healthy dinner ideas Easy entertaining Salads Snacks Quick breakfast ideas Search all recipes Your Baby Breast or bottle? Baby care advice Best baby sleep info Baby names finder Your newborn Baby activities Just for Mums Enjoy Sarah's Page Join Kidspot Social Browse Kidspot Market Win daily prizes Get Kidspot Daily Unsubscribe from the mailing list? Click here