Relevant Ages: 0-1m, 1-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 9-12m The five senses help infants, children and adults navigate the world. Through the five senses, we receive information from our surroundings, so that we are able to cognitively explore and process it. Our senses open the world to us, and help to expand the scope of our understanding at every turn. When we see, we learn to distinguish between size, shape, colors and movement. We hear a symphony of sounds, with their volume, pitch and tone. We taste and smell, and grasp and feel texture, temperature, weight and more with our sense of touch.

From partial, inexact observations to a sharp, diverse and unlimited sensory panorama
A newborn baby's senses, which began to develop while still in the womb, are immature in the first few months. The first few months are characterized by very rapid sensory development, and by the end of the fourth month or so, a baby's senses are almost as mature as those of an adult. This means that in the first four months of a baby's life, her entire world is determined and limited by her sensory capabilities. For instance, it is difficult for a newborn baby to distinguish between similar colors, such as orange and yellow. So when a baby looks at picture or book, her perception of the picture is not exact, limited by her sensory capabilities.

Senses honed for survival
There is an inherent, development logic in the fact that a newborn baby's senses are limited. A young infant can only see clearly to about the distance of his mother's face, while being held in the nursing position. His hearing is focused on human voices, with a clear preference for a female voice. And he quickly becomes accustomed and seeks out his mother's smell. These preferences protect a baby from a "sensory overload" – leaving him with the sensory instincts necessary for survival and that enable him to gradually adjust to the drastic transition from the protected environment of the womb to the sights, sounds and smells of our unknown and uncertain world. His senses direct him to the one person who is most important in his life – his mother. His senses are tuned to his mother – the sight of her face, hearing her voice and remembering her smell. The rest will wait; and will be gradually learned over time.

Sensory development
The senses mature as they are exposed to stimuli. As a baby is exposed to different sights, sounds, smells and sensations, the sensory receptors transmit this information, which stimulates nerve activity in the relevant part of the brain, where it is interpreted. For example, when a baby is visually stimulated, a nerve is triggered in the area of the brain that controls vision. This activity fosters development and maturation of the elements of vision, such as the retina, cornea and the muscles of the eye.

Sensory development progresses in accordance with certain principles. The process is a gradual progression -- from partial to more comprehensive. For instance, a baby will most likely direct her attention to only a part of the range of voice sounds (babies usually prefer high pitched sounds), more than to the whole range, and when looking into an adult's face, will focus on the main features, such as the eyes, mouth and nose, rather than the details.

In addition, there is a gradual transition from recognizing sharp contrasts to the ability to absorb an entire range of hues and shades. For instance, in the first months, a baby is more receptive to stimuli that are sharp opposites, such as sounds that rise and fall rather than a constant monotone. The same applies to colors. Back and white are more readily processed, as opposed to similar colors like blue and green. As the senses mature, a baby is able to distinguish between finer details. Over time, a baby's abilities gradually improve and move from a more single sensory grasp of her surroundings to more of an intersensory perception of her world. As adults, we absorb and process information using all of our senses. When we are in a bath, we see the water, hear the gurgling, and feel the warmth and wetness on our skin – and know that all this stems from the same source. While babies are born with a certain degree of interaction between the senses, it is to a much lesser extent, and develops over time as she is exposed to more than one sensory experience at a time. For example, as you bend down and talk to your baby, you are stimulating her vision and her hearing simultaneously.

Your role as parents
Basic stimulation from everyday routine tasks will enable natural sensory maturation. But rich, diversified sensory stimulation over a lifetime will foster a much richer sensory experience that enhances enjoyment from the sights, smells, tastes and sensations of the world around us.

As you sing, or dance and speak with your baby and expose him to more sounds, you are contributing to a greater, richer sense of hearing. Consistent stimulation of this type will lead to finer auditory perception – such as the ability to not only recognize the tune of a song, but perhaps also to distinguish between the accompanying instruments, or to have a heightened appreciation for music in general.

While sensory stimulation is essential, it is also important to know your baby's limits, so you can expose him to the correct, age-appropriate stimuli. In the first months, it’s best to provide him with sharply contrasting stimuli, such as strongly contrasting colors and tones.

It is sometimes difficult to know whether you are stimulating your baby, or relaxing him. Try to apply this principle: adapt the stimulation to the goal. A soft, long stroke will relax; a deep short-stroked massage will stimulate. Soft music will relax your baby, while music with a beat will wake him up. It is also very important pick the right time and the right dose. It makes no sense to try to offer your baby positive sensory stimulation when he is tired, hungry or distracted by something else. Your baby will be most receptive to learning and exploration when he is well rested, well fed and relaxed.

It’s also important to note the amount of sensory stimulation you provide your child. Too much stimulation makes it difficult for your baby to focus and concentrate, leading to frustration instead of the desired result. Let your baby's behavior and reactions guide you.

Like every other aspect of child development, each child is unique, with his or her individual sensory make-up. A child who is hypersensitive in one sense could be hyposensitive in another. It is vital to study your baby's reactions, so as to properly gauge his sensitivity level and offer the appropriate stimulation to enhance his individual needs. If you sense he is hypersensitive, don’t try to change this. A certain balance develops with maturity, and it is important to accept your baby with his sensitivities, and adapt the stimulation accordingly. In order to develop inter-sensory perception, parents and caregivers should introduce activities and toys that stimulate a number of senses simultaneously. The more interesting and varied the toy or activity is in terms of sensory stimulation, the more it will stimulate your baby's senses and help him to coordinate and integrate them well.

Relevant Ages: 0-1m, 1-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 9-12m

The ability to control our muscles is behind every movement we make. Both gross motor skills and fine motor skills are what enable us adults, as well as children, to be physically active and control our bodies as we wish.

Gross motor development involves the group of large muscles that control the head, shoulders, arms, back, abdomen and feet. As babies grow, gross motor development occurs naturally, but its progress is also a function of practice and repetitive exercise. A baby's environment is the catalyst in this natural process. Appropriate play and activities provide the stimulation that helps gross motor development progress on its natural path, in sync with each baby's individual needs.

Gross Motor Development
Gross motor development is a delicate combination of the brain, the nervous systems and the muscles. In the first three years of life, a child's gross motor development is quite spectacular. Infants progress rapidly from being completely dependent of movements governed by a range of involuntary reflexes. By the age of three, they are active and independent, having gained control over their bodies, and are able to run, jump, throw and kick a ball, etc.

The muscles involved in gross motor development enable babies to perform many activities, such as raising their heads, rolling over, crawling, sitting up and walking. Development of these muscles begins in the first weeks of life with the neck and the ability to raise the head. It is important to note that gross motor development occurs in a set pattern. Each stage is a precursor to the next. For example, a baby will not be able to begin to sit before she can raise her head and chest off the ground, and strengthen her arms to support her weight. The progress and direction of this development is from the neck muscles down, from the center of the body outward, and eventually in coordination with the entire body.

Natural motivation and curiosity are the underlying factors of this phased development, but appropriate environment, play and exercise enhances the process, Development progresses at a pace that is determined by a complex combination of maturity and practice. A mature baby's gross motor skills will not develop at a healthy pace if she is not given the proper environment and stimulation, such as being held or placed in the prone position and given ample opportunity to exercise her natural skills. Conversely, a baby who is not yet mature enough, will not progress to the next step no matter how many opportunities we give her to practice crawling on the floor.

From reflexes to a finely-tuned, orchestrated symphony of motion
A baby is born with essentially no control over his muscles or movements. All of his actions – even feeding – are caused by either reflexes, or random spasmodic movement of the limbs. As he matures and gains more control of his body through appropriate sensory stimulation, practice and support from his environment, the dominance of the reflexes fades and voluntary movement takes over.

This gradual move from reflexive to voluntary, controlled movement requires tremendous effort on the part of a baby. When we see a baby "struggling" to lift his head, or relentlessly keep trying to walk despite falling every few steps, we often ask ourselves—"What keeps them going? Why don't they just crawl back to our arms and give up?"

The answer lies, in part, in the fact that a baby's development path is innate. Babies are simply born with an innate desire to progress along the "rocky road" of development – despite the obstacles, effort and bumps and bruises along the way. And this inborn urge, or impulse, remains dominant by virtue of new things and skills discovered. Every gross motor development milestone brings with it a new discovery. When a baby first rolls over from his stomach to his back by chance, his sensory perception of the world is literally turned upside down. He sees new things, and feels them from a different perspective. When his natural curiosity and senses are stimulated, the impetus to do it again increases. And the process continues throughout subsequent stages. When a baby pulls himself to a standing position for the first time and discovers his ability to extend his arms to take hold of an attractive toy, he is motivated to do it over and over again.

Your role as parents
Babies need to be given the space required to practice their newly discovered skills so they can move on to the next ones. Your baby's body is innately intelligent. It knows what it needs and it knows when it is time to move on. You can help your baby discover and utilize this knowledge with lots of safe, secure space that encourages age-appropriate play and sensory stimulation.

Remember – babies develop at their own pace. This pace is a function of maturity AND practice. And there is absolutely no connection between future intellectual ability and the pace of gross motor development.

In the process of gross motor development, every stage is important and you need to be careful not to inhibit development in a current stage, by pushing baby to the next. Positive reinforcement is an integral part of the process. At the same time, it is important for you to be aware of the major milestones, so there are no unrealistic expectations. This also helps you to spot trouble early, so that if intervention is necessary, it will be most effective. Overzealous expectations can lead you to become frustrated and disappointed, and may compromise the enjoyment your baby brings. But more important, these negative feelings can be communicated to your baby, even without you being aware of it. This can inhibit your baby's development -- instilling in her fear and low self-esteem. However, understanding these milestones is important. Whenever you feel that your baby's gross motor development significantly deviates from the norm, you should consult with a medical practitioner.

Relevant Ages: 0-1m, 1-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 9-12m The ability to control our muscles is behind every movement we make. Both fine and gross motor skills are what enable adults, as well as children, to be physically active and control our bodies as we wish.

Fine motor development involves development of control over the group of small muscles – in the palms of our hands and fingers, and surrounding our mouths and eyes -- that enable us to carry out specific, very controlled movements such as grasping and manipulating objects, coordinating our eye and hand movements (hand-eye coordination), speaking and moving our eyes.

Our fine motor skills are behind our ability to do so many routine tasks such as writing, using a key to open a door, making a cup of tea, and speaking. While the significance of these routine tasks is often taken for granted, they are vital to what makes human beings unique from animals.

Fine Motor Development
Fine motor development is a delicate combination of the maturing nervous systems and the muscles, which requires an environment conducive to practice and repetitive exercise, to ensure that fine motor skills are acquired and perfected in sync with a baby's specific developmental stage and physical maturity. Repetitive practice and exercise strengthens the muscles on the one hand, and contributes to the brain’s development, on the other.

Different activities strengthen and employ different muscles. For instance, drawing a straight line uses different muscles than drawing a circle. As the muscles get stronger, they enable baby to expand the activities she can accomplish, and gradually increase her skills. It follows that practice drawing BOTH circles and straight lines will help build the foundation for writing skills later on. And if a child does not – or is not able – to draw circles, this could in turn cause problems later when she needs to form rounded letters, because the muscles needed to do this are weak or underdeveloped.

Natural motivation and curiosity are what drive and motivate baby to practice these activities that are hard for her at first. Appropriate play and exercise enhances the process. Development progresses at a pace that is determined by a complex mix of maturity and practice. And all motor development – both gross and fine – help baby have more control over elements and objects in her environment.

From A Clenched Fist To Fine Handwriting
A baby's fine motor skills develop gradually. In his first three months, the grasp reflex, which causes him to curl his fingers and clench any and all objects that are placed in his hand, is dominant. But by the end of the first year, he can choose the most suitable method to grasp an object, and depending on the object, he will elect to use his whole hand, both hands, or the pincer grasp to hold what he wants.

Babies also develop the ability to activate specific groups of muscles or limbs separately. In infancy, babies move their arms and hands as if they are one. Over time, they develop the ability control their hands and arms in fine, controlled movements. This begins by moving the entire arm in a single movement, and progresses to moving each part of the arm separately, then bending the elbow and fingers.

And finally, coordination is what brings all aspects of fine motor skills together. Over time, babies learn and internalize the connection and interaction of the different parts of their bodies, as hand-eye coordination develops – from poor hand-eye coordination (baby has a hard time bringing his hand to an object he sees) to very fine hand-eye coordination, which allows baby to bring his hand or finger to the exact object or place he intended. . Another important coordination skill which develops during the first year is the ability to perform a task using both hands. Babies start using this skill when they bang two blocks together, and later as adults to perform tasks such as washing dishes, which requires that each hand perform a separate task simultaneously.

For babies, the gradual move from reflexive to voluntary or controlled movement requires tremendous effort. When we see a two-month-old "struggling" to strike the toy dangling over his head, or a six-month-old trying again and again to push a button on his activity center, we can’t help but ask – "What keeps them going? Why don't they just give up?"

The answer lies, in part, in the fact that a baby's development path is instinctive. Babies are simply born with a natural desire to control the movement of their bodies. And this inborn urge, or impulse, remains dominant by virtue of new things and skills discovered along the way. Every fine motor development milestone brings with it a new discovery. When a baby first strikes a toy and sees it move, presses a button and receives an appealing auditory response, or picks up a small object from the floor between his thumb and forefinger, he is encouraged to do it again and again. These activities strengthen and develop these fine motor skills, bringing him positive feedback and pleasure from his success.

Your Role As Parents
The degree of a baby’s coordination and fine motor skills development depends in great deal on the exercise and practice she gets in the first years of her life. The more a baby exercises and practices these skills, the more she will strengthen the muscle groups in her hands and fingers. If this practice and exercise is lacking, or the muscles are relatively weak, then a baby's control over her hand, for example, will be limited. This could result in fatigue and frustration when trying to accomplish more advanced tasks in school, such as writing, playing with clay or drawing.

You can help your baby discover and strengthen these skills by providing her with a wide variety of exercises and activities involving many objects and toys of different shapes, sizes, textures and weights, that encourage her to use as many muscle groups as possible. The larger the variety of activities, like pulling, pushing and rolling, the more exercise each muscle group receives. For instance, a good quality activity center (such as the Developlay™ Activity Center) offers a wide range of sensory experiences. Three-dimensional toys (such as the Fruity Pals) also are good choices, since they encourage different ways of grasping and activating the toy with both hands.

In the process of fine motor development, every stage is important and unique. For example, a two-month-old extends her hands to the front, but they don’t reach midline. And if you place a toy at midline, she may soon lose patience and miss out on valuable practice that will develop her hand-eye coordination. A nine-month-old may not know what to do with a shape-sorting toy placed in front of her. But if you take the lid off, and let her play with the different shapes, she will grab them and put them in the box—exercising her fine motor skills.

It is important for you to be aware of the major milestones, so there may be no unrealistic expectations. This also helps you to spot trouble early, so that if intervention is necessary, it will be most effective. Overzealous expectations can lead to frustration and disappointment, and may compromise the enjoyment your baby brings. But more importantly, these negative feelings can be communicated to your baby, even without your awareness. This can compromise your baby's self-confidence. But understanding these milestones is important, so that if you feel that your baby's fine motor development significantly deviates from the norm, you can, and should consult with a medical practitioner.

Relevant Ages: 0-1m, 1-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 9-12m During the first few months of a newborn’s life, the entire world as she knows it is what is before her eyes. As soon as something disappears out of her eyesight – it’s as if it never existed. Gradually the world opens up to encompass what is outside the range of her senses, and she begins to think and imagine people and objects that she doesn’t see in front of her. This is object permanence – the ability to understand that objects still exist after they are no longer in sight.

Object permanence is an important element in a baby's intellectual and emotional development. As soon as a baby is able to conjure up an image of a person or object in her mind, she is also capable of cognitive thought: remembering, imagining, deductive reasoning and planning. She is no longer dependent on trial and error to solve problems. She is now capable of bringing up an image in her mind of an object that is no longer in sight, say a bottle, remember where she saw it last, and set out to find it. In other words, she can use the images in her mind before taking action, which is the first step in being able to plan and understand the concept of expectations for the future based on the past.

Out of sight, IN the mind
The popular expression "out of sight, out of mind" is more than just an expression. It is a truism for the first months of a baby's life. What he can’t see simply doesn’t exist for him. If a newborn is looking at a rattle and we take it away and replace it with something else, he will not search for the rattle. It’s as if he has forgotten it ever existed.

When a baby is approximately eight months old, an interesting and dramatic change occurs. If you leave the room, he may start to cry and try to look for you the last place he saw you – at the door. Or if he is playing with a toy, and you take it away and hide it behind your back, he will look for it behind you. These are signs that your baby has achieved an important intellectual milestone – object permanence. Baby's mind can now conjure up a visual image of a person or object, and "see" it in his mind even when it’s not physically there.

The process begins at four or five months, and is completed by the end of the second year. Recent research indicates that the process may, in fact, begin much earlier, but a baby simply has no way of displaying his grasp of the concept because of limited motor development.

During the period when object permanence develops, babies love to play games like "Peek-a-Boo, I See You." They demand to play again and again, and the joy that the experience brings is apparent. Why? Because in the real world, baby has no control over the people and things that disappear from him. His parents leave the room; and take a seemingly interesting toy away, perhaps because it is dangerous. In contrast, peek-a-boo-like games offer him some control. He can make his mother's smiling face appear and reappear over and over again from behind the door. He can press a button on his toy to make the clown jump up again and again. This newfound power and control is intoxicating and brings with it bursts of laughter and joy. This excitement peaks in the second half of the first year, when these types of game are the undisputed favorites.

After the age of 18 months, interest in these games diminishes, and the toddler simply puts to good use what he has learned and practiced. When his favorite toy goes missing, he will simply look for it in the last place he saw it, and if he doesn't find it, will continue looking in places where it is normally found.

Your role as parents
During the first six months, it’s important to introduce a routine and familiar layout in the child's environment to encourage her to become accustomed to having expectations. For example, she knows and learns to expect that there is always a mobile hanging from the crib, her favorite book is open on her play mat, and her bath is always given in the same manner. These things help baby to sense the concept of permanence in her life and begin to have expectations.

In the second half of the first year, play peek-a-boo-type games with your baby often, such as hiding and reappearing from behind a door, covering and uncovering your face with your hands, and hiding a toy and encouraging her to find it. There are a number of toys designed specifically for this, or that at least have elements in them that enable you to play with them for this purpose, such as pop-up games or a jack-in-the-box. These toys empower baby to play on her own, independent of the cooperation of others.

Relevant Ages: 0-1m, 1-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 9-12m Language is the ability to use a set of symbols to communicate our thoughts and emotions.

This ability is unique to humans, and one of our most developed and intellectually advanced capabilities. Language is what enables us to share our thoughts and impressions with others, share memories of the past and our hopes for the future. We are born with an innate urge to communicate; an urge that is central to our very being.

Communication is not only verbal. We have as many ways to communicate as we have feelings -- a glance, a smile, a soft touch, facial expressions, hand movements, crying, or a shout for joy.

It is with this powerful tool of non-verbal communication that your baby initiates her first dialogue with you. From the earliest stages, your baby "speaks" to you via different types of crying, laughter, smiles; and by the second half of the first year, using a wide range of gestures and signs. A baby who lifts her arms asking to be picked up, or who turns her head away because she doesn’t want to eat, is communicating her desires very clearly – well before she utters her first word.

Expressive verbal skills versus receptive verbal skills
It is important to remember that the ability to express oneself is just one part of the language and communication equation. No less important are our receptive verbal skills, or the ability to understand language. Receptive verbal skills represent the input, and expressive verbal skills the output. Later on, new avenues open, such as written communication – reading and writing. Well before your baby talks, his language and communication skills are developing rapidly.

Receptive verbal skills come first
Receptive verbal skills precede the ability to speak, and this is a far better indication of your baby’s developing language skills than her verbal repertoire in the first months of life. But how can we know what a baby understands if she can’t speak? We try to determine if she can differentiate between different sounds by her reactions to them. We can ask her where an object is, and if she points to it, we see she understands. If we play games with simple instructions, such as "give and take," and she hands over the item when asked, this shows us that she understands. All these indicate healthy language development. So when looking at language and communication development, we must look at the whole picture, both in terms of expressive verbal skills – including the sounds baby is making, and in terms of receptive verbal skills – or how much she is able to absorb and understand.

The clamorous path from crying to interactive dialogue discourse
The foundation of a child's language skills develop from the time he is born until he is about four years old. There is rapid progress from crying to cooing and babbling. By the end of the first year, baby utters his first word, and understands a number of words and short sentences. By about 18 months, he can connect two words together to express an idea, and by age two, can usually compose a sentence. These first sentences are still not grammatically correct. The process is not usually complete until the fourth year. By then, the child understands complex conversations and can express himself in full, grammatically correct sentences. His language skills and vocabulary will continue to expand and become richer, but the basic foundation is already in place by age four.

The first four years of life are, therefore, critical in language development. Research with "jungle children," who grew up with no human contact, showed they were able to acquire language if they were returned to human contact before the age of five. For others who were returned to civilization at a later stage, the window of opportunity for language skills was lost. It was found that although they would be able to somewhat communicate with body language, gestures, and some words, their ability to verbally communicate their feelings and thoughts, would be lost.

Your role as parents
With this in mind, your role as a parent or caregiver is significant. These are the formative years, and it is imperative that parents and caregivers invest time and effort in proper language-related stimulation so that children will acquire healthy language and communication skills. But don't be frightened or daunted by the task. The best stimulation comes from what parents give their children naturally. Every interaction you enjoy with your baby is a veritable treasure chest of language stimulation – from bathing them, changing their clothes and feeding. Share with them what you are doing, explain what comes next, and tell them how much you love taking care of them. Sing a song or read a story. All this is just what the doctor ordered – the formula for successful healthy language development.

Relevant Ages: 0-1m, 1-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 9-12m Cognitive skills are the mental processes through which we understand our world: we interpret the information that is received from our senses, remember it, sort it into categories, understand the causal relationships, and draw conclusions. This is how we learn new things, think and imagine.

Perhaps these concepts sound more like the title of a book, but if we try to think in more practical terms, we can better understand the underlying meaning. Let's take a complex task you have tried to learn: skiing for example. Skiing requires mastering many cognitive skills. First of all, we must interpret what we see: how steep the slope is, the distance between yourself and closest tree, etc. If you have skied before, you will probably use information stored in your memory, how best to angle your body, or how to prevent falling. You will need to understand cause and effect as you quickly learn that for each movement you make there is a ramification, or result. Your ability to categorize information will also come in handy. All your successful runs down the course can be grouped together, and the actions you took to contribute to these successes can be compared to actions that prevented a successful run. When you want to share (or boast!) about your skiing adventure, you will conjure it up in your mind, and then translate this into words. All these things represent your intellectual abilities – to think, draw conclusions, imagine and conceptualize.

The path to order, logic and expectation
Today, we know that even newborn babies are mentally active. They are born with a variety of cognitive skills that help them acclimate to their new reality outside the womb. They are constantly learning, and each and every day their cognitive skills grow and develop.

Babies progress quite rapidly from reacting only via reflexes, to being able to react intentionally and intelligently. As they develop, they begin to understand that there are ramifications to their actions – that there is a causal relationship between what they do and what happens. They eventually learn to solve problems, and conjures images in their minds of the outside world.

By the end of the first year, baby will have succeeded in organizing her world into neat categories. At this stage, you can see her budding imagination at work – one of the most important and wondrous characteristics of humanity. When a one-year-old baby, looking for her pacifier, sees it on the table and pulls the tablecloth to bring it to within her reach, she shows us just how much her intellectual development has progressed in the past months.

In order to follow your baby's intellectual development, you have to know what to look for. It is much easier, for instance, to monitor a baby's gross motor development. It’s hard to miss when a baby reaches an important milestone, like sitting or crawling. But it is much more difficult to pick up on the fine nuances of behavioral changes that indicate cognitive development. For example, it isn't always easy to understand and accept your baby's annoying habit of throwing everything off her high chair, at the age of nine months, as an intellectual achievement. It is also important to remember that there is an intellectual dimension to many of a baby's motor development achievements. For example, when a baby learns to strike at an object, she acquires a number of things simultaneously: fine motor development and improved hand-eye coordination, as well as an important cognitive achievement – understanding the causal relationship between her actions and the results she sees.

Your role as parents/caregivers
The first years of a baby's life are when the brain matures and develops the most. The experiences a baby is exposed to stimulate the brain and enrich his processing and thought capabilities. These experiences have an enormous influence on the future.

These findings underscore the importance of your role as your child's first "teacher." The type, quality and quantity of stimulation you expose your baby to, influence the development of the brain in general, and his cognitive skills in particular. Exposure to stimulation from a broad range of areas helps your baby to acquire broader, richer skills and talents.

But while the obligation to expose your child to diverse stimulation is vital, it is no less important than the obligation NOT to flood your child with cognitive stimulation, -- generating unreasonable expectations that will hinder his learning experience. A successful and enjoyable learning experience stimulates a baby's curiosity, belief in his ability to overcome challenges and instills self-confidence. If learning experiences are unpleasant and too frustrating, this could hinder motivation, and even compromise cognitive development.

This is why it is so important to find the right balance. On the one hand, you need to provide your child with a broad, rich developmental environment that is conducive to many educational opportunities. On the other hand, it is vital not to pressure him. Try to enjoy the process, and never push toward achieving the desired result at any price. Even if your baby did not reach the objective you set for him, the process itself has a value all its own. He learns from any stimulation, any attempt and practice, and even from his mistakes. Sometimes, along the way, he picks up other skills than those which you intended for him to learn. Try to expand the practice and exercises in a spontaneous, natural way. If he decides to put the rattle in his mouth instead of shaking it like you wanted him to do, let him set the pace. Talk with him about the sensation of the rattle in his mouth. If he hands you the block over and over again, play along with the game he initiated. Let him lead the way.. He knows more than anyone else what he needs to work on to foster his cognitive development.

Remember, there are plenty of solutions other than the one "right" solution. Coming up with them will help your child develop creativity and self-reliance. Try not to become tied to only one solution for a problem. For instance, there are many many ways to play with a stacking cup toy other than stacking the cups. You can build all kinds of different creations and play with them in an infinite number of ways. Work with your baby to develop creative, new solutions. And most important, give your baby a lot of positive feedback, either verbally or with a smile, hug, or approving glance. Learning will only be effective if you both enjoy it and experience the creativity and intellectual challenge together. This is the best way to ensure that your child continues to develop her curiosity, and seeks new opportunities to learn and experience more.

Understanding the stages and issues related to cognitive development will help you guide your child on the wondrous adventure of learning, and offer him an environment that is most conducive to fostering the process.

Relevant Ages: 0-1m, 1-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 9-12m Emotional Quotient (Better Known as Emotional Intelligence)
The importance of social and emotional development has attracted much attention over the last several years, with the awareness that emotional intelligence has a profound influence on success in life, perhaps even more so than intellectual intelligence (IQ). For example, a person may be brilliant, with exceptional analytical skills and vast knowledge in a wide range of subjects, but lack diligence and the ability to complete a task, finding himself jumping from one thing to another and never completing one fully. This same intellectual genius may in fact turn out to be much less successful than someone who is less intelligent, but a hard worker, and able to overcome frustration and obstacles to finish what she sets out to do. Another example is the talented worker appointed to be a manager. While intelligent and capable of doing the job, she may lack the emotional skills needed to be sensitive to her subordinates' needs, and become frustrated or angry too quickly. This same talented employee will not succeed at her managerial job, or be able to advance. The skills that these people lack are related to a person's emotional intelligence.

It is not enough to work on the healthy development of a child's cognitive, motor and language skills alone. If babies do not progress on an emotional level, difficulties and delays may prevent or compromise the ability to realize their full potential.

Emotional intelligence quotient, or EQ, encompasses all the social and emotional skills that make up our character, as they pertain to our relationships with ourselves and attachments to others. In terms of intrapersonal development, this is our ability to recognize our own positive and negative emotions, and to control how we deal with and express them. This also includes setting goals, delaying satisfaction and how we face problems when they arise. Interpersonal development involves our relations with others, and encompasses social skills, such as empathy, respecting others' opinions, and the ability to live, work and cooperate with other people.

The metamorphosis from reflex-driven behavior, to social and emotional attachment
During the first year of life, babies make significant developmental progress. At birth, they have only the most primitive reflexes to communicate their psychological and physical needs. Soon though, they become social beings, actively initiating social contact. On an interpersonal level, babies can anticipate the actions of others, react to social initiatives made towards them, and even initiate social interaction, such as a game of "give and take." On an intrapersonal level, a baby is born with ability to express two basic emotions: one when something is unpleasant, such as hunger, pain, etc. And the other is to express pleasure, such as calmness, interest, etc. The ability to express many diverse emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, and surprise, is derived from these two basic emotions. In addition, babies begin to learn how to regulate or control these emotions, such as turning their head when over-stimulated.

When born, babies have nearly no concept of "self." In other words, they don’t really know themselves, nor do they understand that they are separate beings from those who take care of them. When a baby takes the nipple when hungry, she perceives the nipple as an integral part of her. She doesn’t understand the limits of her body – where it ends and the outside word begins. Self-awareness begins to develop during the first year, as she begins to understand the limits of her body as being separate from her primary caregiver the mother. As this happens, she begins to realize that the discomfort she feels originates with her, and that relief in the form of a bottle or breast comes from an outside source. She also learns that her mother has a separate life and that she continues to exist even when she’s not in sight.

At the end of the first year, a very significant process in emotional intelligence is completed: the essence of the bond between baby and mother, (or other primary caregiver), is formed. The quality of this bond has a direct influence on the way baby approaches the world and also how she feels about herself. This will determine baby's approach to the world around her: if it is a pleasant place, if there is someone to rely on, if she can count on herself and others. Or will baby be suspicious, lack confidence and trust, or believe that she cannot make things happen to meet her needs.

The factors that affect EQ
Baby is born with a basic ability for personal interaction. But how this leads to rich, complex and well-developed emotional intelligence depends significantly on the quality of primary care, the environment, as well as baby's own temperament, which affects how others act towards her.

Quality of primary care (Environment)
During the first year, baby develops a bond with her primary caregiver, and if she has received consistent, sensitive care that was focused on her needs and that responded to her signals, she will have learned that he/she can be counted on. Moreover, a baby that was cared for properly will also expect security, and will believe that there will always be someone to satisfy her needs. A baby cared for this way will develop secure attachments and will have basic trust in others. This also fosters her own self-confidence, as she understands that she can do what it takes to be understood to satisfy her needs, and that she deserves help if needed. A baby raised this way will internalize the personalities of her loving, understanding and caring parent(s), and will grow up to be able to offer others the same kindness and love she received. On the other had, if she is cared for by someone who is insensitive, unstable, or rejecting, she will develop attachments that lack confidence and security, and grow up with low self-esteem and difficulty trusting others. Because baby did not experience enough sensitivity and caring, she will find it hard to offer this to others.

Inborn temperament
Temperament relates to inborn traits, which can already be seen in the earliest development stages. These traits are expressed in the way babies articulate emotions, and how they react to stimulation. For example, every baby has a different activity level, pace, ability to acclimate to new things, level of reaction and more. One baby will react strongly and become very agitated to new things; another will take them on calmly and approach new situations with gusto. These different characteristics of a baby's temperament will affect the way a baby perceives and experiences the world. For different babies, the world can be either a wonder, filled with new and exciting sights, sounds and experiences, or a scary place, brimming with the unknown and cause for caution at every turn.

The recipe for accommodating both baby's and his parents' temperaments
There is a reciprocal relationship between baby and parent. Baby's temperament influences his parent in many ways. When baby is calm, and acclimates well to new situations, it is easier for his parent to pick up on his signals and understand what he needs. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand what a colicky, cranky baby wants, especially when he reacts so strongly to every "failure" to identify his needs. The parent of a calm, easy-going baby enjoys caring for the infant, while the parent of a cranky, overly sensitive baby may often feel frustrated and emotionally drained. This can adversely affect the quality of care.

The reactions of a parent, who by nature is impatient to a cranky, irritable baby, may increase baby's irritability and in fact, increase his volatile behavior. On the other hand, if the parent's temperament is calm and patient, this can help baby learn to control and regulate his emotional expression, and may help to gradually relieve his volatile behavior.

In essence, the greater the harmony between a baby's and his parent's temperament, the better the chances are of succeeding in providing sensitive care and satisfying baby's needs.

Your role as parents
The newborn’s inborn interpersonal and intrapersonal skills in essence represent potential. These inborn traits will not develop without a sensitive and understanding partner – the baby's primary caregiver.

Baby needs you, her parents, to be sensitive to her needs and aware of her signals. She needs you to help her identify her own emotions, and learn to understand them, and how to regulate and control them. Baby distinguishes between the different ways you relate to her, and based on this, concludes certain things about herself, begins to build her self-value and learns how to relate to others' needs.

During the first months, answering your baby's needs is not "spoiling:" it is the cornerstone of her emotional development. As you meet her needs, you are teaching her to express her emotions. When you try to calm her, you teach her ways to calm herself. When you encourage her to experiment with new things, you are communicating your confidence in her abilities.

You must be thinking that all this sounds fine and good, but trying to satisfy a screaming baby in the middle of the night is a lot harder than it sounds here! What is important to remember is that it’s the effort that counts. In everyday life, there are going to be plenty of times when you fail to understand what it is your baby needs and when she cries with frustration. Don't worry if this happens. Your baby understands that you are trying, and this caring that you display has intrinsic value in and of itself. Remember: your baby doesn't need a "perfect" parent for healthy, normal development. She needs a parent who is "good enough" – a parent that keeps on trying until he or she succeeds.

Even these little "failures" along the way are of significant value. As your baby waits for you to understand what it is she wants, she learns to raise her frustration threshold and patience. She also receives an important lesson that you and she are not one, but rather separate beings. This will help her more easily separate emotionally when the time comes.

And most important, remember that raising children is not one long journey of uninterrupted joy and happiness. It comes with lots of rough spots along the way, including frustration and negative feelings. Try not to feel guilty about this. Negative feelings, anger, disappointment and frustration come with the territory, and are part and parcel of raising children. Your ability to admit and face these feelings will help pave the path toward a real attachment and bond with your child, showing her that sometimes real, natural feelings are not always pleasant. This will help her accept herself and be able to better express the rainbow of feelings she will experience as she grows, develops and reaches adulthood.