9-Month-Old Baby - What to Expect

Welcome to the ninth month! Just when you thought your baby couldn't get any busier, more active, and more interested in everything, she does.

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Transcript:

Welcome to the ninth month! And just when you thought your baby couldn't get any busier, more active, and more interested in everything, she does.
Into everything, too. And as much as you adore your baby explorer, you're probably wondering how you'll ever keep up with her escapades, especially as she starts to pick up steam in the locomotion department.
Watch as your baby spots a toy clear across the room. A month or two ago, he'd contemplate the toy for a moment, then completely forget he'd seen it, distracted by something bright and shiny within his reach. Now, with cognition and memory growing, his eye stays on the prize, while his mind devises a plan to retrieve it, one way or another.
He's a man on a mission. If he's mobile, he'll crawl, scoot, or slide to reach his goal. If he isn't, he'll wisely look to you for an assist, letting you know what he wants any way he can: pointing, gesturing, grunting, using facial expressions, or some other form of creative communication to engage your attention, so he can score the toy. Happily, as determined as he can be, your little one is still a relative cinch to distract, a plus if the object of his desires is something he shouldn't have.
What's that on the coffee table? Chances are good your baby will now be able to find out by pulling up. Half of all babies this month will be able to pull up from a sitting position onto two feet, making reaching things that once safely out of reach a piece of cake! Or a cup of hot coffee, or a bowl of nuts, so watch out.
Some babies will even be cruising, essentially walking while holding on to furniture, which allows them to move quickly from chair to couch to table to bookcase. To make sure your little one's not cruising for a bruising, or pulling down what he pulls up on, make sure all furniture is sturdy, well cushioned, and bracketed to the wall. Letter of the month? V for vigilance.
Also this month, your baby's a two-fisted player; she's able to hold a toy in each hand, bang them together, and of course, bring both to her mouth at the same time. She's becoming a master manipulator too, able to finesse more sophisticated small motor skills, like stacking rings, though probably not in the correct order. or fitting a smaller-sized cup into a larger one.
And speaking of small, even tiny objects, a mint, a bottle cap, a sibling's tiny Lego can't escape his reach anymore, posing an escalating choking risk. That's because the pincer grasp, the ability to coordinate thumb and index to pluck up just about anything and deliver it neatly into his mouth, has developed, or soon will.
So mom and dad beware! You'll need to do a safety sweep of any room he's in to screen for chokable items, but also cheer. This new skill puts new finger foods at his fingertips, including oat circles or yogurt puffs, small pasta shapes, smashed cooked beans and peas.
It will also mean you may be making strange news discoveries in his diaper. Since what goes in often doesn't get thoroughly chewed, it can come out pretty much unchanged, so baby's poop may be dotted with corn kernels or studded with blueberries. Here's to an adventure-filled ninth month!