By the time a baby reaches the final quarter of their first year of life, a large part of the base for the rest of their development has already been laid. Average babies will finish laying the base during these last three months, while advanced babies might start on some of the milestones that are usually reserved for the second year of their life.
In the physical realm, a baby will start standing more sturdily during these three months and by the end of them may even be able to stand without any support. Aside from a few steps without sturdiness that result in them falling back to the ground and crying, you should not expect your baby to start walking during this period of time. Their grip will become far more coordinated as well, with the ability to grasp things with a pincer grip or just with the thumb and a single other finger rather than having to use a fist for everything they pick up.
Emotionally, a baby will start to develop a bit of nuance in the feelings that they give off. Most babies that are really young will only do one of the two extremes of laughter and crying, but a baby that is in the last quarter of its first year of life might start to do moderate happiness or moderate sadness that is not accompanied by either laughter or crying. They will also start to gravitate between laughter and crying less often as their emotional moods begin to stabilize and stay in place for longer periods of time.
Cognitively, a baby will be able to recognize both of their parents by this point in their development and may even call them with monosyllabic phrases. They will certainly be able to recognize their own name by their first birthday if they can’t already.
In conclusion, there is one note of caution that is worthwhile to anyone that is reading articles regarding average baby development ranges. These are not true for all babies and for that reason you should not be disheartened or even worried if your baby is lagging behind slightly.
