5mth and 1 wk

Janine is becoming more active physically and has a greater range of movement. She can turn and twist in all directions when placed on a mattress or floor and rolls from her back to her stomach. When lying on her tummy she may get up on her hands and knees in an effort to crawl, and will be able to move a short distance, but she is yet to master the complete crawling action. She may start by crawling backwards first as instinctively she will push rather than pull herself. Her arms are now strong enough to hold her upper body weight.

She can stand if supported, sits with slight support. When held standing upright she may try to bend and straighten her legs as if to jump. She enjoys being able to feel her own body weight when standing or pushing her body up off the ground with her arms.

She can hold on to a bottle, manipulate objects by turning her wrist, and pick up an object with each hand, and she reaches out to grasp things using one arm. She enjoys sitting up because she can use both her hands to grasp objects and explore. She explores objects through shaking, rattling, throwing and dropping them. She is still learning to open her hands fully.

She is very interested in small particles like crumbs, small toys, and buttons and will examine them in detail so you need to be careful because they usually all end up in her mouth. She will stretch out for objects that are beyond her reach, and she is learning to twist and bend her body so that she can extend further. She may end up toppling over on to her tummy when she reaches out too far.