At fourteen months old, your baby is likely settling into toddlerhood and enjoying all of the freedoms that come with this new stage. Developments in balance continue to ramp up, and your child likely seems to move with more grace and ease these days. As your toddler’s attention span continues to increase, you can expect to notice them enjoying daily activities and routine play for longer periods of time.

At fourteen months of age, your baby may…

Roll a ball. Your toddler now has the coordination and strength to roll a ball across the floor. If she is a very steady stander, she may even be able to kick the ball with fairly good accuracy!

Say six words (but understands a hundred). Your fourteen month old possibly says six or so words this month, and he is adding new ones all the time. What is even more amazing is that he now understands dozens of words and phrases. You can likely carry on a short conversation with your toddler at this age, since his receptive language skills are really blossoming.

Walk up steps. With help, your little one can likely walk up a few stairs by fourteen months. She probably needs to hold your hand the whole time, because steps still seem big and steep at this age! Going down stairs will take a few more months to master, but for now, she might sit and scoot down a step or two, just for fun.

Open doors. At fourteen months old, your toddler is probably trying to open doors, cabinets, and drawers at every opportunity. He has seen you practice these same actions for months, and now he wants to try! Some toddlers will be successful at opening things at this age, so make sure all exits and potentially unsafe drawers or doors and sufficiently baby-proofed!

Pour and fill. Pouring out a bucket of toys is quite an exciting activity at this age. Your toddler will likely pour out any container within reach, just to see what happens. Likewise, she now has the skills to fill that container back up again, and she may delight in repeating this action over and over again.

Stack blocks. Blocks are a popular activity for fourteen month old toddlers. They will probably love knocking over any tower you make, and watching the blocks scatter across the floor. By this time, your little one can probably stack two or three blocks on top of each other as well.

Drink from a cup. While she may still prefer a sippy cup or bottle, your toddler likely has the ability to drink from an open cup at this point. It may still be a messy undertaking in the beginning, but with practice, she can be using a regular cup full time.

Pull while walking. Pushing objects while walking or cruising is something your child has been doing for a few months. But now, they can likely pull objects with them as well. Since your toddler is likely gaining more ground with his walking skills, he can now grab a toy and pull it along behind him for a quick jaunt around the room!

Squat to stand. Toddlers naturally assume a squatting position when investigating things low to the ground. At this point, your fourteen month old can probably go from standing to squatting and back up again in one smooth motion. You may notice her sitting in this position for far longer than seems comfortable to an adult. However, for children this age, it’s a comfortable and safe position to sit in for as long as they can muster!

Expertly eat. If you have let your toddler practice with a spoon and fork for a few weeks, you might notice that he now has pretty amazing control over these utensils. He can likely self feed most of his meals, and can handle a large variety of textures. His hand-eye coordination has improved so much that he will even manage to get a lot of the food directly into his mouth!

Since language discovery is now at the forefront of their development, your toddler will probably love hearing stories and songs that rhyme. Music classes are both fun and rewarding at this age, and your fourteen month old will enjoy short circle time activities as well. Try coming up with silly songs as your complete routine activities. Music and rhythm will engage and excite your toddler, and keep them interested during mundane tasks like getting dressed or changed. Fourteen months is also a great time to invest in some small musical instruments. Your little one would probably love a drum, some shakers, and bells to make music of their own!