AGES 1 TO 3 MONTHS: VISION

At 1 month, your baby still can't see very clearly beyond 12 inches or so, but he'll closely study anything within this range: the corner of his crib, the play of lights, the shadows on the wall, the shapes of his mobile. The human face is his favorite image, however. As you hold him in your arms, his attention is drawn automatically to your face, particularly your eyes. Often, the mere sight of your eyes will make him smile. Gradually his visual span will broaden so that he can take in your whole face instead of just a single feature like your eyes. As this happens, he'll be much more responsive to facial expressions involving your mouth, jaw and cheeks. He'll also love flirting with himself in the mirror. Buy an unbreakable mirror that's specially made to attach inside cribs and playpens so he can entertain himself when you're not nearby.

Tracking Movement

In his early weeks, your baby will have a hard time tracking movement. If you wave a ball or toy quickly in front of him, he'll seem to stare through it, or if you shake your head, he'll lose his focus on your eyes. But this will change dramatically by 2 months when his eyes are more coordinated and can work together to move and focus at the same time. Soon he'll be able to track an object moving through an entire half-circle in front of him. This increased visual coordination also will give him the depth perception he needs to track objects as they move toward and away from him. By 3 months, he'll also have the arm and hand control needed to bat at objects as they move above or in front of him; his aim won't be very good for a long time to come, but the practice will help him develop his hand-eye coordination.

Distance and Color Vision

Your baby's distance vision is developing at this time. You may notice at 3 months that he's smiling at you halfway across the room or studying a toy several feet away. By 4 months, you'll catch him staring at the distant television screen or looking out the window. These are clues that his distance vision is fully developed.

Your infant's color vision will mature at about the same rate. At 1 month, he'll be quite sensitive to the brightness or intensity of color; consequently, he'll prefer to look at bold patterns in sharply contrasting colors or in black-and-white. The soothing pastels we usually associate with a newborn's nursery, in fact, are not appreciated by young infants because of their limited color vision. By about 4 months, your baby will finally be responsive to the full range of colors and their many shades.

As his eyesight develops, your infant naturally will seek out more stimulating things to see. Around 1 month, his favorite patterns will be simple linear images, such as big stripes or a checkerboard. By 3 months, he'll be much more interested in circular patterns (bull's-eyes, spirals). This is one reason why faces, which are full of circles and curves, are so appealing to him.