Even as tiny newborn babies, our young communicate with us.
It all begins, of course, with crying and fussing noises when they are not pleased.
Their cries take on different tones as the days and weeks progress.
Soon most moms and dads can discern the cry that means, "I'm hungry" from the one that means, "I'm wet.
" From early on, facial expressions communicate a vast wealth of information about babies.
And soon, they are cooing to show contentment.
Frustration follows along, when baby is not able to communicate.
Hands and arms wave, sometimes in happy excitement.
However, often while waving hands and arms, the expression on baby's face definitely shows that he is exasperated at not being able to get through to you.
Most babies start saying the same sounds in roughly the same order.
They start with "dadadada" and progress to "mum mum mum.
"As they get older, they study your face as you speak, trying really hard to copy both your facial expressions and your sounds.
Some experts have concluded that a baby's body movements are a true indication of his trying to communicate.
Some, in fact, have suggested that using a simple sign language will help baby begin "talking" before he is able to really vocalize his needs and wants.
A few months ago at a church dinner, I was able to watch a young mother and baby communicating this way.
It was obvious that he understood her hand gestures and tried to copy them.
How content he seemed at being able to get his point across - that he wanted another bite! It has been about 22 years, but I still remember those times with my own son.
His dad and I really believed that he was swearing at us in frustration when he could not get us to understand him.
He slammed his fist on his high chair tray and shouted, "Di di di di di" over and over again, with an angry look on his face.
It surprised us the first time.
When it occurred again and again when he was obviously distressed, we were convinced that his rantings were baby cussing.
Soon, though, every baby's babbling turns into real one-syllable words.
How exciting it is when they can assign the sounds of "da da" to their father or "mum" to their mother.
Have you ever noticed that babies love experimenting with their voices and sounds when they're in public - in grocery stores or in church?Not only do they like hearing different sounds, but they love testing different volumes.
They also love testing their giggles.
Still, their best way of communicating is with their huge grins and twinkling eyes.
And that doesn't change, even after 22 years.