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You know your baby is amazing, but here are some strange, wonderful and unbelievable things you probably don't know about babies and toddlers...

Article: Shelagh Witby from Your Baby magazine

BABY'S AMAZING BODY

Babies don't have kneecaps when they are born. They only develop during the latter half of the first year

At birth, a child's feet have 22 partially formed bones; by the time the child turms 18, each foot has 26 fully formed bones.

The average toddler takes 176 steps per minute.

A typical new born will double its weight by 6 months and triple it by the first year.

Babies eyes don't produce tears until the baby is between 3 and 6 weeks old.

BABY'S WONDERFUL MIND

Babies have a biological need and desire to learn.

The foundation networking of the brain's synapses is nearly complete after the rapid brain development of the first three years.

The more stimulating experiences you can give your baby, the more circuitry is built for enhanced learning in the future.

The number of connections in the brain can increase or decrease by 25% depending on the environment and stimulation.

BABY'S SUPER SENSES

Shortly after birth, infants can discriminate among a large number of sounds that occur in many languages.

At 7 days a baby can distinguish his mother's voice, by 14 days he can recognise his father's voice.

Babies gradually develop a preference for the sounds of their native tongue.

In the second half of the first year, babies start paying less attention to subtle differences in pronunciation and more attention to whole words and phrases.

The rhythms of speech become attractive, helping them remember words they hear frequently.

Babies who hear lots of words will understand more words and perhaps begin to speak sooner.

"Sign language" is emerging as another way for babies to communicate, even if they don't have hearing or developmental problems. Read Baby Signs, by Dr Linda Acredolo and Dr Susan Goodwyn or go to www.babysigns.com.

Babies have a define preference for high contrast images, like geometric shapes in black, white and red.

A newborn baby focuses best at 25cm from the bridge of his nose- the distance from his mothers breast to his mother's eyes.

Visual stimulation can produce developmental advantages including enhanced curiosity, attentiveness and concentration.

Newborn babies have an acute sense of smell, which enables them to recognise the natural scent, or pheromones, from their mother's body.

Too much sensory input can make babies miserable. During the first six months of life, babies start co-ordinating the use of their senses. If sounds collide with movements or vice versa, it's difficult for the baby to sort out the confusion. When he can't make sense of it, the baby gets annoyed.