Most of his newborn reflexes have gone away by this point, but some new and very useful reflexes are now present. Somewhere between eight and nine months, the protection reflex emerges. This is very timely as your baby is learning to walk very soon and this reflex helps your baby protect himself when he trips and falls forward. When his head moves toward the ground, he will instinctively extend his arms and reach for the floor to catch himself.
To check if this reflex is active yet, hold your baby horizontally and move him head-first, toward the floor. Check if he puts his hands out.
If you find that he does not have this reflex yet, or if it takes several tries to get him to extend his arms, you can help activate this reflex by placing your baby over a physioball and practicing rolling her forward and backwards until she reaches her hands out in front of her as she rolls toward the floor. This can make a fun game and also teach some balance skills. The rolling back and forth on the ball also helps with core and neck strength while reinforcing the protection reflex (also called the parachute reflex).
The other reflex we see develop around six to nine months is the lateral propping reflex. When your baby is sitting and you move him to his left side, he will extend his left arm toward the floor to brace himself. When you move him to his right side, he will extend his right arm to brace himself.
You can practice this reflex by sitting your baby on a physioball or even just a large beach ball and roll it side to side until she extends her arms out to her sides as she rolls that direction.
You will also notice the protective extension downward reflex around six to nine months.
When you move your baby vertical toward the floor, she will extend her feet toward the floor and rotate her legs outward in anticipation of putting her feet on the floor. When her feet make contact with the floor, she will lock her knees and bear her weight.
References:
Kliegman, R., Marcdante, K., Jenson, H. & Behrman, R. (2006). Essentials of Pediatrics, Fifth Edition. Elsevier Saunders.