ABSTRACT
Babies come into the world with exquisite capacities and are primed, hard-wired, to communicate with their parents and other people. They have a drive towards completing development, including a drive towards developing a self. Even before birth, babies are aware of their mother's voice, feelings, and activities. They can hear, taste, and respond to pressure and touch, and they react to painful stimuli by moving away. About two months before they are born, they are aware of a rose-coloured light through the thinly stretched wall of their mother's abdomen during the day. Parents' bring their life histories, their dreams, and their expectations to meet their baby—who comes with his own temperament and other constitutional givens—and together they co-create a relationship. Parents help to create a gap between themselves and their baby so that playing and independent thinking can flower.
