Play ball

Roll a ball to your baby, and roll it back towards yourself. Keep doing this, encouraging her to roll the ball back to you. Before long she will get the hang of it, and the two of you can enjoy a game of rolling the ball!

Talk

Talk to your baby constantly. No matter how many times we are told that we should talk to our babies, most of us are content just gurgling and cootchie cooing with them. While this is no doubt important too, do try and introduce your baby to words other than puch puch, sweetums, cootchi pie sweetie pie.

Talk to your baby like she is an adult, and avoid speaking in a sing-song manner. Children learn to speak in the manner they are spoken to, and if you speak to her like she is an adult, she will pick up the language a lot faster.

Walk

Encourage her to start walking by letting her stand holding on to the bed or table or other furniture. Keep a favourite toy on the bed, and enourage her to reach for it. At first, she will try to stretch, so keep it just a little beyond stretching distance. Slowly, she will start taking steps to reach out for the toy.

If your child seems tired standing, don't force her to do so. When she is standing on her own, you can get her to try and walk, but the minute she plops down, let her be. Children need stimulation and encouragement, but not force.

One of the easiest times to talk to your baby is when she is being fed. Whenever you put a spoon of food in her mouth, say things like, "Open your mouth, that's a good girl. Wasn't the rice tasty?" and so on.

Food

Encourage your baby to eat by herself by putting her on the feeding chair and letting her sit with you on the table. Get her a feeding chair as soon as she can sit, and encourage her to eat by herself. This will not be easy at first, and your child will naturally enjoy playing with the food more than anything else. Let her. Playing with food is also a form of discovery for her. Just make sure her bib is secure, and place a few newspapers on the floor under the chair, so it's easy to clean up after her. It may be easier to give her dry food like a chapatti to play with, so she doesn't create as much of a mess, and may start taking a bite or two once her teeth come up.

Hot and cold

Introduce your baby to the concept of hot and cold at this stage. Gently let her touch a hot chapatti, and say, "Hot!" Then let her feel a glass of cold water, and say, "Cold!" Do this every evening when you're sitting with your child for a meal, and don't be surprised if one day your baby beats you to it.