ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how changes in the baby's body and mind provoke changes in the ways in which the mother or other primary caregiver responds. As the infant becomes older there are evident changes in her size, how perceptive she is, her motor strength and her ability to coordinate her movements to achieve her goals. She develops the ability to pay attention for longer, to differentiate between things and to collaborate with others in her social and emotional interactions. She learns new habits and enjoys a familiar world. Play and games are part of relationships in all cultures and part of the ways in which children learn how to communicate with others about themselves and to share ideas as meaningful. Babies engaged in person–person–object play are not only coming to understand the minds and meanings of others but also aspects of their own culture.
