From birth to one year, your baby will go from crying to cooing to talking. This is quite an accomplishment in such a short period of time, and just the beginning of many milestones you will see develop in your child's growth process. In this article we will attempt to cover ever so briefly. what you can expect to see on the average month to month in your baby's language development.

Month One - Your baby will understand speech long before being able to talk. From birth, your baby will look at your face and listen to your voice. She will make a small range of noises which you will start to understand as she tries to communicate hunger, or discomfort. When your baby is feeding, you will notice her making sucking sounds and perhaps sounds of contentment. The way that your baby cries is an important communication method while he is actually unable to talk. Crying lays the foundation for speech as your baby learns to control her vocal cords. Crying is also your baby's way to indicating hunger, discontentment, or general discomfort. By responding to her crying you are letting your little one know that she is important to you, and this will increase her security and feeling of assurance that she can count on you to care for her.

Month Two - Your two month old is starting to be more aware of her world. She will be fascinated with the sound of your voice and will look around to follow it with great concentration as you move about the room. You can easily keep her amused by changing the tones of your voice. She will likely respond with a variety of cooing sounds, vowel-like sounds, and sometimes some consonant sounds like "k."� You and she will be surprised by all the different cooing sounds that she will start to use to communicate with you and as she is discovering her own voice. During this time try talking with your baby. This will encourage her to respond and help in her development process. By looking into your baby's eyes, you are communicating an important thing to her - that you are listening.

Month Three - Your baby at this point can easily pick your voice out from others and will turn her face in the direction of your voice to find you. As she discovers her own voice by laughing out loud she may actually startle herself, because before now she didn't realize that the sounds she was making were coming from her. Your baby may start making sounds such as "ahhh goo."� She will squeal with delight and again may scare herself initially as she gets use to the fact that she is making the sounds herself. At this point you should not only talk to your baby, but sing and tell stories and nursery rhymes. The greater your effort to communicate with here, the better her response is likely to be.

Month Four - Your baby is learning more and more ways to communicate with you. She seems to be happy, smiling a lot as she discovers the different sounds she can make with her voice. Her soft babbling sounds will almost have a singsong quality to it, often escalating to a high pitch that will delight her. You will notice a lot of repetition to her sounds. Make sure that you respond to her "oohs"� and "ahhs"� with your own voice tones. Consider this your "chat time"� with your baby. Take advantage of these opportunities as she is learning what conversation is all about. Your baby may have moods of not wanting to talk and may show it by turning away or putting her arm across her face so she can't see you. She may eve show signs of anger or frustration by crying out, especially if something is taken away from her.

Month Five - As each month progresses, you will find that your baby is getting better and better at communicating. You may notice her imitating sounds and even gestures. By now she will be able to communicate to you when she is happy or sad. When she wants attention, she will babble until you respond. If you always respond to her communication efforts, she'll repeat them whenever she wants your attention. You may notice that she is actually starting to look at your mouth as you speak. If you talk to her from across the room, she will be able to easily find you. She also is learning how to control her vocal sounds as she watches your response to her sounds.

Month Six - Now your baby will start using consonant-vowel combinations. She will probably have discovered her image in the mirror and having conversations with her new "playmate."� Your baby's language is becoming more and more precise. Here are some ways you can help your baby develop her language skills:

• Speak clearly, slowly, accurately
• Identify objects as your name them
• Use short sentences
• Use repetition as you sing songs or say nursery rhymes. Repetition helps the learning process.
• Read to your baby as often as possible, asking questions about the pictures in the books to get your baby to interact with you.
• Never talk "at"� your baby. Instead let her respond in her own way.

Month Seven - Your baby is continuing to build on her new found language skills. She may start waving goodbye accompanied by babbling sounds. She may start to say "mama"� or "dada."�

Month Eight - Your baby is ready to play such games as "pat-a-cake"� and "peek-a-boo."� Even though she cannot say the words of those games, she will be delighted to play and will babble along. It's likely that she has understood the meaning of the word, "No"� at this point.

Months Nine-Twelve - It's possible during this time frame that your baby understands requests like "give it"� or "don't touch that."� Similarly, she may understand such questions as "where is your rattle?"� During this time she may even be able to say "bye"� or "hi."� At this time you should be encouraging her to use gestures and you should respond to them. For example, if your baby indicates that she wants to be picked up, then say, "Do you want Mommy to pick you up?"� while picking her up. This helps the learning process. You should also talk about everything that you do, and use gestures and short sentences while you do them. Here are some ways you can help your baby with the learning process:

• Talk often to your baby using simple words to identify objects in her life. Name trees, numbers, colors, and animals as you take your baby for a walk. Use your baby's name as often as you can so he starts to recognize it.
• Be patient as your baby talks to you. Respond to her talk in a positive way, often repeating one or two of the words she has used correctly.
• When you can fit it in naturally, introduce concepts to your baby such as the "big"� dog or the "little"� bird.
• Talk back to your baby when she talks to you.
• Give your baby time to get her words out. Don't be tempted to finish a sentence for her.
• Look at books together and talk about the pictures using simple words. When possible, try to use books that she can hold herself.
• Continue to read to your baby as much as possible. Reading should be part of your daily routine. You won't be sorry about the time you take for this. If your child can develop a love for books at an early age, it will set them up for great success when they are older.
• From the very beginning, start to talk in a simple, short, uncomplicated way with your baby - even though she will not understand what you are saying this is laying the foundations for learning language.

Month 12 - After one year babies are generally able to say one or two words and are able to understand 25 words or more. For example, if a person in the room asks, "where is mommy"� your baby will look for you. Your baby is also able to point at things and ask for things in this way - with gestures. Before you know it, your baby will be talking up a storm as she masters her language and vocal skills.