How your baby communicates

Your baby's range of sounds and facial expressions continues to grow, with lots of smiling, laughing, and babbling. Your baby is also imitating sounds, an important skill for learning to talk.

Babies this age begin to experiment with the sounds they can make with their mouths. Your baby will spend more time babbling and is learning to imitate sounds. Make no mistake, these are your baby's early attempts at speaking and should be encouraged as much as possible.

If you listen closely, you'll hear your baby's voice raise and drop as if asking a question or making a statement. Your baby will also use sounds (other than crying) to get your attention and express feelings.

Your baby is just now beginning to understand the fundamentals of communication through language. When younger, your baby understood your meaning through the tone of your voice: soothing tones were comforting, agitated tones told him or her something was wrong.

Babies this age enjoy vocal games and interactions. Your baby will be thrilled when you copy his or her coos and babbles. Imitate your baby's "bah" and "ah-goo," then follow up by saying some simple words that contain the same sound.

Have "conversations" and wait for a pause in your baby's babble to "answer." The give-and-take of these early discussions will set the stage for those first real words and conversations in the months to come. Ask your baby questions, and respond enthusiastically to whatever answers you get.

Make photos with your "talking" baby, upload to the App. Write how you communicate with the little one and what words he/she already knows.