MOTHERCRAFT By KERITAPU If properly cared for as set out in our previous articles, a baby grows and develops very quickly, particularly in the first year of life. The average baby weighs 7 ½ lbs at birth and as a rough guide for parents, he doubles his birth weight, shall we say, when he is five months old and trebles it at one year. No two babies are exactly alike, though they follow a definite pattern in the order in which they learn to do things. There is no hard and fast rule for babies, and there should be no cause for worry if the baby in your home is a little slower in doing things than the one next door. The early training of a child, even from a month old, depends entirely on the mother. If she is keen and interested in her child, she will seek every advice and also make her home and surroundings as attractive as she is able to, to give her growing child every opportunity to grow up in a pleasant atmosphere. The Waikato North District Council provided the winning stall (above) in the Waikato Winter Show this year. The meeting house was the work of Mrs Frances Paki. A growing child needs the constant care and attention of a good mother and will develop into a beautiful example of a mother's work. Babies are like flowers, they grow with tender care and develop into beautiful beings, just as flowers do which give endless pleasure in colour and scent round a home. A neglected child, home and garden give very unpleasant and drastic results, leading to bitter disapopintment. The best way to train baby in good habits is to draw up a plan so that a regular time will be set aside for the main events in the day, such as feeding, sleeping, bathing, exercise, bowel action and so on. The first thing to do is to see that baby is being fed at the same time each day, and other important things can be fitted in to suit these hours. Toilet training may be begun when baby is about a month old. If he is held out for a few minutes only, every morning, say after the ten o'clock feeding, he soon knows what is expected of him and a regular bowel action becomes a habit. Regular exercise also helps to promote a regular bowel action and a good time for this is just after a feed, say at 10 a.m. If baby is put to bed regularly at the same hour, a rhythm of sleeping and waking is soon established. He should be awakened for his feed at the right time if necessary. As baby grows he learns all sorts of interesting things. He will greet his mother with a smile, play with his toes and even put them in his mouth by the time he is four months old. At six months he can grasp dangling objects. At seven months to eight months he will relish chewing at a peg or a bone. At eight to nine months he should sit up alone. At about ten months he should crawl. At twelve months, stand with support of a chair. At fifteen months, walk alone. At eighteen months he should be able to feed himself if encouraged. Some babies, and particularly those who are large and fat and placid, are slow at standing and walking alone, while the thin and excitable type of child may be running everywhere before he is one year old. Immunization Against Diphtheria. Whooping Cough. Tetanus: By the time baby is 9 months old he should have been immunized. A course of 3 monthly injections should be undertaken, commencing at six months and completed by the time he is nine months. Consult your own family doctor. Public Health Nurse, or Department of Health District Office (if living in town). If you prefer you can arrange for a combined injection against diphtheria and