Fine motor skills refers to the coordination of the small muscles of the body. These include the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, toes, lips and tongue. There are two types of motor skills: fine motor and gross motor skills, which are the movements of the larger muscles, whcih include those of the arms, legs and feet. Both fine motor skills and gross motor skills develop over time and build upon one another. Below is a general timeline for fine motor skills development during the first two years of life.

Birth-2 months
Babies will extend their arms towards objects but are unable to grasp them. As vision develops, their accuracy improves. When their vision and grasping work together, they can make contact with the desired object.

3-4 Months
At this stage, hand-eye coordination begins to develop and babies can sometimes grasp and hold larger objects. Babies may hold and shake a rattle and bring hands together.

4-5 Months
Children should be able to sit up now. Babies can begin to transfer larger objects from one hand to the other. They can crumple paper and splash water in the bath.

6 Months
Babies can now hold objects with a palmar grasp and are refining their ability to manipulate objects with their hands and mouths. They may grasp at their feet and bring their toes to their mouths.

7-9 Months
Children can now successfully grab smaller objects between their thumb and the sides of their forefingers. They should be able to transfer toys from one hand to the other and bang objects on a table. Will often put objects in their mouths.

9-10 Months
At this stage, babies begin to develop a pincer grip. This allows them to grip larger objects with all four fingers against the thumb. This is the grasp that the child will use to pick up and drink from a cup. The pincer grasp also allows children to stack and nest objects.

10-12 Months
Toward the end of their first year of life, babies can pick up very small objects and begin to use their hands independently of one another. They will also be able to point at objects using their index finger.

12-15 Months
Most children will be better able to explore the world around them at this stage. They can roll a ball on the floor and begin using their hands for more than just playing and eating. Toward the end of this period, children will begin to use tools such as cups, spoons and crayons like adults would. This allows them to begin feeding themselves.

15-18 Months
At this stage, children can use a crayon to scribble on paper in a more controlled manner. They should also be able to build towers from a few large blocks.

18-21 Months
By the end of this period, babies may be able to help dress themselves by manipulating large zippers and buttons.

21-24 Months
By the end of their second year, most toddlers can use their hands to unwrap presents and do simple puzzles. They can fold sheets of paper and string large beads. They can build a tower of six to seven blocks and turn doorknobs and unscrew lids. They can wash and dry their hands and have mastered the use of a fork and spoon.

Children continue to develop fine motor skills throughout their childhoods. There are many toys and activities designed to help develop a child's fine motor skills. Parents who are concerned that their child may have a fine motor skills weakness should contact a doctor for an evaluation.

Read more about development at ParentDish.

Suffocation while sleeping is a huge risk for infants. Professional organizations, like the American Academy of Pediatrics, have set standards to help reduce the rate of infant deaths caused suffocation. Among their recommendations: Keep cribs free from baby bumpers because of their association with infant deaths.

Some parents ignore this advice, which has made breathable bumpers -- bumpers created with breathable mesh that increases airflow and can reduce the potential of accidental suffocation -- a popular choice. The breathable bumpers' mesh keeps arms and legs from getting caught in the crib. Unlike traditional bumpers, the unsupportive mesh keeps older children from climbing up the sides of the crib.

Still, there are breathable bumper critics.

Consumer Reports experts in February 2009 stated that "bare is best," meaning that netting, sleep positioners or bumpers should not be used in cribs. The recommended that blankets, pillows or any other loose, soft bedding should be kept out of cribs, too.

Read about other Baby Essentials on ParentDish.

Students at Lionville Middle School in Exton, Pa. have morning gym class two out of every six days. David and Cathy McLaughlin say their diabetic 11-year-old son Jack needs more exercise than that.

School authorities disagree.

Gym classes rotate with music and reading-skills classes. School authorities tell the Philadelphia Inquirer that the McLaughlins have been offered exercise options for Jack that don't cut into those other classes.

VERDICT ...

Beloved singer and actor who made her mark in the '70s and '80s, Olivia Newton-John will be coming to AOL tomorrow to chat with ParentDish. What would you like us to ask her?

Dear AdviceMama:

My five-year-old son seems to be obsessed with talking about poop and his penis. Is that normal? He tells me that a group of kids in school always joke about these things at recess. I'm a little worried.

Signed, It's soooo not funny!

The National Rifle Association is pushing a new bill that would prevent adoption agencies in Florida from asking pistol-packing mamas and papas if they have guns in their homes.

The bill was prompted by the case of a Brevard County, Fla., couple who, when applying to adopt a child, were asked if they had guns in their home, according to NBC Miami. The Miami Herald reports that the couple, who was not named, contacted a lawyer who put them in touch with NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer. The lawyer told the couple that it would be easier to change the law than to sue.

This is an excerpt from Susan Stiffelman's new book, Parenting Without Power Struggles.

Newsflash: Kids don't like to be bossed around!

In her infinite wisdom, Mother Nature has designed children to resist being told what to do outside of the context of connection. Kids are wired to Just say no! when an outsider attempts to get them to do something and to only do the bidding of those to whom they are appropriately attached. This makes a lot of sense. Consider what would happen if a child's instincts told her to follow and obey people who weren't part of her village? Imagine the worries you would be saddled with if your little ones didn't instinctively refuse the demands of strangers?

No, Mother Nature knew what she was doing when she wired our children's brains to resist being pushed and pulled outside of the context of attachment.

So, let's start off with the understanding that, as frustrating as it is when your kids refuse to come to the dinner table or clean up their toys after being asked five times, there are powerful-and invaluable-instincts at work that bias our children towards resistance.

Front-of-the-box nutrition logos are supposed to help you make healthier choices. But the Food and Drug Administration wonders if they're just misleading.

Amid those concerns, a national nutrition labeling program called Smart Choices, which had been embraced by big food companies, announced it was suspending operations. The program rolled out in August and awarded a green check mark to foods that met low fat, sugar or sodium content. But alarm bells sounded when sugary cereals got the green check, too.

Now the FDA is studying ways to regulate varying front food label nutritional facts from manufacturers and grocers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created this video in which Tracy, a high school basketball player, shares how she was sidelined by a concussion.

Bob Elston, a stay-at-home dad, took his 11-year-old to Hooters, the restaurant chain best known for its busty, scantily clad waitresses, and then he wrote about the experience and his son's reaction on his parenting blog, The Rain Racer. The Herndon, Va. father of four says he saw the experience as a teaching moment.

"The trip to Hooters, I saw as an opportunity to see how he conducts himself around women. If he drooled and couldn't take his eyes of the waitress, then that would be an unmistakable cue to me to start preparing another birds and the bees talk. If he acted embarrassed and shy, then that would be a sign that such a pointed talk could wait a bit. So what happened?" Elston wrote.

The post has already garnered thousands of views and also landed Elston on National Public Radio and in USA Today, where he called the lunch "an opportunity to check on my own son's development, or lack thereof, in a real world setting."

Elston shared his thoughts on blogging, the development of sexuality and parenting tweens in an email interview with ParentDish.

ParentDish: What drove you to blog about taking your son to Hooters?
Bob Elston: I started blogging about parenting four months ago because being a parent is probably both one of the most frustrating and fun things you can do with your life. Those of us who raise kids learn quickly that our window to guide and influence them is surprisingly short. We need to use our time wisely before our kids grow up, go to school and become independent adults with their own ideas.

Credit: CPSC

Maclaren USA is recalling more than a million of their popular umbrella strollers due to a defect that causes children to get their fingertips amputated in the strollers' hinges.

The voluntary recall is for the following models of Maclaren umbrella strollers sold in the United States: Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, Techno XLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller. According to a press release issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the strollers pose the threat of fingertip amputation and lacerations when the stroller is folded or unfolded.

Fifteen children have been injured by the strollers so far, and 12 of the injuries resulted in fingertip amputation, the CPSC reports. Maclaren USA urges parents who have the recalled models to stop using the stroller until they are able to get a free repair kit of specially designed hinge covers. The kits are available now and can be ordered online, and consumers can also contact Maclaren USA toll free at 877-688-2326 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Mon.-Fri. for more information.

The strollers were sold at Babies "R" Us, Target and other retailers that sell juvenile products nationwide from 1999 through Nov. 2009 for between $100 and $360.

Related: More Alerts & Recalls

Have you ever heard a baby cry with a German accent?

You can -- if you listen hard enough, said Kathleen Wermke of the University of Würzberg in Germany to the BBC. She led a research project which concluded that infants pick up the nuances of their mothers' accents, even while in the womb.

Researchers studied the cries of 60 healthy babies born to families speaking German and French. Wermke told the BBC that they could detect the French babies crying with a rising accent while German babies cried with a falling accent.

Wermke added that the research, which was published in the journal Current Biology, is more than just a slightly interesting curiosity. It suggests that human beings are influenced by the first sounds that penetrate the womb. Scientists already knew that unborn children could memorize sounds from the outside world in the last trimester of pregnancy, especially music and voices.