1-year old: Physical Development

1. Those brave first steps, if your child hasn’t taken them already. If he has, savor the first time you walk hand-in-hand together.

Baby walk hand-in-hand

2. More precise movements and better hand-eye coordination as his fine motor skills develop. See him scribble with a crayon, carefully stack blocks, poke with his index finger, and repeatedly put things in and out of a container.

Baby motor skill

3. Bigger and more varied movements like ‘dancing’ and walking up steps, as his gross motor skills develop

1-year old: Communication

4. A shorter gap between when you first teach your child a word and when he starts using it.

5. Finally understanding what your child wants as he points to them and responds to simple questions – usually, the ‘yes or no’ kind.

1-year old: Skills

6. Taking turns playing many rounds of peek-a-boo and enjoying other simple games like pat-a-cake.

7. More babysitters in the form of grandparents and aunts/uncles, as your toddler becomes more fun to play with day after day.

Toddler playing with babysitter

1-year old: Nutrition

8. Whether your little one starts weaning with baby-led or spoon-fed approach, at 1 year old your baby’s eating habits may become unpredictable. He may eat everything in 1 meal and nothing for the rest of the day; or eats the same food for 4 days in a row and completely reject it after. Try not to stress out, if you feel your baby does not take a balanced diet regularly, you can supplement with formula milk to help support his growth and development.

1-year old: Overall Health

9. Less guesswork when it comes to decoding your child’s cries. As your child learns to communicate, it becomes easier to find out the source of pain or irritation. Ask him to point out what hurts like his head, tummy, throat, or even teeth.

10. Speaking of teeth, expect to see more incisors, and even molars!

1-year old: Activity

11. More complex play as your child learns to pick up basic rules. Figuring out what things are for (eg. phone, brush) and being able to follow simple commands paves the way for you and your tot to have hours of fun with pretend play.

12. Storytelling fun! Your heart will melt the first time he hands you his favorite book for you to read to him.

13. Creative play. The child can pretend to feed a doll, explore and points to things in a room.

Baby fun activity

1-year old: Behaviour

14. Practicing your parenting skills as your toddler begins to express and learn to handle a wider range of emotions like frustration, anxiety, and jealousy.

15. Transitioning to “bigger kid” items like sippy cups and more advanced toys.

16. Being silly. Toddlers find many things funny so look forward to having a few unexpected laughs over everyday objects and situations.