Baby This Week: 24 Weeks Old

You've got to hand it to your baby — her hand control is definitely improving. You may see her rake objects toward herself and try to pick them up. Most 5-month-olds grasp an object for just a short while and then drop it. Yours will spend a long time doing this over and over if you play along by picking up the objects and handing them back. Your indulging her in this game is also teaching a basic lesson in cause-and-effect — one she'll learn well, to uproarious giggles, before long.

Your baby's getting better at spotting very small objects and tracking things that are moving. At this point, she may be able to recognize an object after seeing only part of it — like her favorite toy peeking out from under a blanket. This will be the basis of little hide-and-seek games you'll be playing in the coming months. She can also follow an object out of her view.

You may also notice that she'll reach for a block (or another object) on a table if you hold him close to it, and once she's got one, she may just go after a second.

Earlier your baby learned to distinguish between similar bold colors. Now, she's beginning to sort out subtle differences in pastels. Reading books about colors or playing with colored blocks is a great way to learn about the color palette.

When your baby starts fussing at the supermarket, you may be able to distract her — not for enough time to knock everything off your shopping list, but a few minutes goes a long way these days. Try engaging her with funny faces or a round of "the Itsy-Bitsy Spider."

Clapping your hands, giving her something to hold and mouth, or pointing out new objects in the aisles might work, too. But, remember: For some sensitive babies, the sights, sounds, smells, and overly friendly folks found in stores can be too much.

Your baby's ability to interact with you, others, and her surroundings is growing daily. At this stage, she may start playing little games as she begins to understand that simple actions have results. she may drop objects just to watch you pick them up or to see how and where they fall.

Once she understands that letting go of something is as much fun as picking it up, your baby's world will become more interesting — and yours a good deal messier. Tiring as it sounds, you'd better get used to it. In a few weeks, this will be accompanied by your baby's fits of giggles.

Before long, you'll probably notice the noise level increasing, not only because of your baby's babble but also because she'll find out how much fun it is to bang objects together. Banging, shaking, and mouthing are all ways your baby conducts her experiments on the world.

- BabyCenter.com