baby learning - Seven to Fifteen Months

What is your baby learning?

* Your baby is continuing to learn to recognize and to share his thoughts and feelings. By the end of this period, babies use more and more language to communicate. They want to try out their verbal skills and are busy naming and describing: "more" (when they want you to continue playing with them), "ba-ba" (when they want their bottle).
* Your baby is also learning to read the emotions of others. She will look to you for cues about how to respond in a situationÑespecially one that's unfamiliar (a new child care provider) or unusual (a balloon pops). It's the way that infants figure out how to respond to the world.
* During this stage, your baby will make giant leaps in language development. She or he will progress from making repeated sounds to saying simple words, like "baba" for bottle. Maybe even putting two words together: "Mommy sock" (your sock), or "nice doggie."
* Babies of this age are better able to remember the past. You'll see signs of your child's improved memory in her or his behavior: when you turn on the water in the bathtub, he'll get excited, knowing that his favorite playtime is about to begin.
* Your baby is learning how to separate and connect back to you and other important caregivers. As you go out the door, leaving your nine-month-old behind with a caregiver, he may begin to protest, trying to follow you or calling out for you. But with repeated separations, your child learns that you'll return and over time, separation anxiety diminishes

What are you, the parent, learning?

* Holding on and letting go. As your toddler begins to venture out in the world, you'll act as a secure base to which she'll return when she needs refueling. You'll work on finding the balance between holding on--protecting him, making his explorations safe--and letting go--encouraging him to explore and take risks.