As your baby explores the world around them, they're not just learning physical and cognitive skills. They're also discovering their social and emotional selves.

By observing expressions and gestures and listening closely to words and sounds, they're beginning to understand how actions, sounds, and feelings are all connected. This helps them to identify and express their own emotions while also learning how to understand the feelings of others.

Your baby loves hearing your voice and observing your face; as they listen to you speak and watch your expressions, they collect helpful information to help them recognise and interpret emotions. They're paying close attention to things that move, like eyebrows and mouths, and how these movements go together as they hear sounds like a voice talking or singing.