What are your best "unofficial' milestones for your baby/toddler?

[Sixfeetandcounting]

I am very proud of the fact that my 6 month old can locate and grab his 'bits' within two seconds of me removing his nappy. It may not be in any of the official milestones but I reckon it shows impressive dexterity :o

What are other MN's favorite milestones that may not make it into the baby books but still make us all very proud. x

What a lovely idea! :) Mine are hugging and licking my face (as kissing) from around 4 months, saying ( crying) "mummoo" when wake-ups and finds herself alone in the room at around 5.5 months and also saing no-no-no when does not want to eat any more at 6 month. We all love them very much and are verry happy when they are loving us back.

Pooing in bath and then trying to eat floating turd... 14 months or so (sounds like a jail term! But it was roughly their age when they did it).

Don't tell them I told you .

For boys - first deliberate stand-up wee

I can't remember when my DS1 did his first stand-up wee, but remember lots of demonstrations by Daddy especially when we were out for walks in the countryside. It must have been sometime between 2 and 3 when he 'got it'. DS2 did his first one last weekend at 23 months! His big brother (now nearly 5) was doing one against a tree and we asked him if he wanted to do one, pulled his trousers down and he did one. Then he said 'Daddy, wee?'. He didn't ask me funnily enough! Since then, he has weed in the garden once and I've twice found him in the garden with his pants and trousers around his ankles. The pants and trousers were wet so I don't know if he had already done a wee when he pulled them down or weed in his pants once already down.

3.10 beating daddy hands down at a racing computer game (& daddy was actually trying to win)
3.11 asking me how my day was, remembering exactly what i'd told him I was doing and asking if i'd managed to help the little girls I was going to see.... it was so cute and thoughtful (completely ruined by the time we'd got home and had a tantrum about missing 2 minutes of fireman sam)

Yesterday I showed DS a picture of his granny (my mum) reading to Dsis's 3 daughters. We named everyone in the picture (DS is very keen on pointing to people and saying their names. It's like a teacher taking the register in this house sometimes!) He then looked carefully at the book being read in the photo. It's "Each Peach Pear Plum", which we also have but he's not bothered about it yet.
He recognized it from the photo, went to get his copy, and then showed it to me and demanded I read it. I was gobsmacked.
He's 22 months. I'm not sure if that kind of abstract recognizing power is SUPER-genius-brilliant or just genius-brilliant, but I await him curing cancer on a daily basis.

Another one for first dance! DS used to bop along when in his high chair if any funk or disco came on the radio at about 9 mo, but now (15mo) he does a kind of naked hip wiggle dance when he's got his nappy off

Naked streaking as well, once he's out of the bath - he's off round the house giggling as he goes!

When my DS aged 18 months went to the kitchen and collected his cup from the cupboard and then got past the child lock on the fridge. He then brought both through to me and said "Mum, Milk". I was too impressed to be annoyed! I'm hoping he will bring glasses of wine for me next!

When I took DD to a mums & tots group at 8mo and she was playing with a red brick and a yellow plastic portion of chips from a kitchen set - she was so absorbed in playing that she forgot about me for a moment, then remembered and looked up to check I was still there. Saw I was still there, went back to playing. It was the first time it looked like she actually gave a crap whether I was there or not :)

when they find out if they stick their fingers in their mouth far enough, they will be sick.

falling off the bed. bloody h never learnt

getting out of the pushchair/shopping trolley and carseat

first swear word (my toenail has grown back and the ridge has grown out but the swear words have not been forgotten)

Taking dummy out of his mouth, inspecting it and tucking it back in, like Churchill with his cigar. 5 months. Most proud.

Agree with fake cough and fake cry and the grin that follows when they've got your attention!

Realising they can affect the world and try to pat a (swinging) object (DD and hanging clothes about 3 or 4 months).
Also the fake cough - but more when she learnt to put her hand in front of her mouth (only for the fake cough though!) at about 10mo.
Recently (12mo) she's started 'conducting' to music, so if something comes on she waves her arms in time (different to her dancing) to the music (I say in time anyway!).
First time she said 'da-dee' rather than 'dada' (that ee sound is so super cute!).
Knowing that lids go on things and trying to put them on.
Oh - and when she about 2 months ago realised that she could get adults to copy her by, for example, clapping her hands/raising them in the air (all actions from singing songs) and we'd do the same and sing the bit of the song with that action.

I don't know when DS started to do this, but 'reading' to me from books is one of my favourite things in the world. And he knows it. So he does it to get my smiling, unadulterated approval.
He goes "Wurbletoodlewuttertadee HAT" and "Tooddrahbeebinweedaa MOON!" pointing at various pictures and naming the things he sees. It's brilliant and I almost don't want him to learn to ACTUALLY read as this party trick is better than anything else in the whole world!

DGS 21m, counting to 10 (and making an attempt at 11, 12 too),
He's also making a good attempt at his ABC's (baby C's!) and colours.

I think I should post this in G&T

My 12 month old can open his big sister's school bag, get her lunch box out, open it despite the quite stiff clasp, and eat her left overs - I think this shows very survival, and perhaps fine motor, good skills, but it does also make it sound a bit as though he should be in an NSPCC fund raising advert - I do feed him, honestly!

At 5 months when they can hold their own legs while you change their nappy

4 mnths DS2 being able to hold his own bottle, second child syndrome

5 mnths first animal sound, tigger: aaaaaaaaah

About 6 mnths - kissing himself in the mirror, too cute

7 mnths - crawling away fast from big brother, turning round squeeling and wanting to be chased

12 mnths first dancing on table, current favourite trick: climbs on to coffee table stands up and dances and claps to any music, the reggae reggae sauce ad's a fav!

10mnths climbing all the way up the stairs on own as someone left stairgate open, oops

DS1 4.5 yrs furst great toy names whilst playing with a shark & 2 knights: sharkspear

The first saturday morning they both wake up and play with each other for a couple of hours without waking us up - still waiting for this one!

Dd 3.5 finding the words poo and wee hilarious and substituting them for words in nursery rhymes such as - twinkle twinkle little POO how I wonder what you WEE WEE. She never gets to the end of the song as she is crying laughing at herself when she does it until she gets hiccups.

Opening the fridge and getting out the block of cheese for a snack

First poop in the bath. Only 4mo so she wasn't even aware Dad was though.

this week we have had two firsts... one was turning his own light out and lying down to sleep after a bit of reading a book to himself (after declaring "but I'm not tired yet" when I had read story and done a song). Second was using a steak knife (pretty much correctly) in a restaurant. DS will be 3 in August.

Im so jealous of all these 6 month old babies doing kissing!
I just tried to force encourage dd to kiss me but she wasnt having any of it :(

Does an open mouth with the tongue out when I go to kiss DD count?

The first attempt at singing: baa baa blat sheet ado eddie woo.