Baby This Week: 43 Weeks

Your baby is mastering motor control — both "gross" (or large) motor skills, like crawling and standing, and "fine" motor skills, such as picking up objects between forefinger and thumb. It's especially important to keep choking hazards out of reach when your baby has these new pickup skills (and still likes exploring things with mouth and tongue). Coins, buttons, small toy parts, and food that falls to the ground are all potential problems. Consider vacuuming more often at this stage.

At this age, your baby can sit confidently and may even walk while holding onto furniture, possibly letting go momentarily and standing without support. She'll take steps when held in a walking position and may attempt to scoop up a toy while she's standing, too.

Those magical first steps toward independence — and lots more exercise for you! — are just around the corner, if they haven't arrived already. Most babies take their first steps sometime around 12 months, but some start much earlier. If yours isn't walking yet, don't worry — it's still early. Some babies wait until they're 18 months old to make that move.

- BabyCenter.com