The first interaction that your baby will choose to have with you is a simple one.  He will stare at you.

Then he’ll follow you with his eyes.  Within a couple of months, he will smile.  At you.  On purpose. While he’s awake.

That is called the “social smile.”  And it’s a big deal when he decides to lay one on you.

The social smile is such a huge milestone because it brings together many other elements of your child’s development.

In the past children learned to sing from siblings, parents, and extended family, in a process that parallels learning how to speak words.

Nowadays (yes, I used that word) it’s a purple dinosaur who teaches us that it’s much easier to “clean up, clean up” with the help of background singers.

As more children and their families consume media-generated sounds or songs, traditional music might be getting less attention.

Gab is good.

Parents await baby’s first word with a vigilance that rivals the arrival of baby himself.

The ability to communicate is one of the markers of leaving babyhood and entering full personhood.  In about 17 years, this ability will also be a marker of leaving home, and entering college.  Got SAT scores?

… is a process.  

Your baby’s first word, like your baby’s first step, is a journey, instead of the finish line we sometimes think it is.

I’m not trying to spoil anybody’s fun.  Your child’s first independent step is such a thrill that it’s dizzying.  Not for baby — for parents, I mean.  And the first recognizable word? Nothing less than an event — hey, I know the date, time, and GPS coordinates for my first kid’s first word, okay?