Intellectual Development
Being able to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel are important to learning. Through these senses, children learn many things in their environment. All of these senses develop during the first two years of life. Therefore, children need opportunities to use their senses and try new things. As a parent, you need to provide an environment that allows children to develop to the fullest their intellectual capacity. 
Birth to Six Months
At birth, the infant’s vision is blurry. A few weeks after birth, infants seem to focus on objects 7 to 10 inches away. Their near vision is better developed than their far vision at this stage. As their vision improves, infants pay more attention to faces than to other objects. At two months, infants will gaze longer at a smiling face than a face without any expression. They also show more interest to the eyes. Like the sight, hearing also develops early in infants. They are startled by loud noises and often react by crying. The infants are usually lulled to sleep by rhythmic sounds, such as heartbeats or a lullaby. They also react to human voices more strongly than to other sounds. As early as two weeks, the infants can distinguish the voice of his mother and father from that of a stranger. During the first three months, the infants start to experiment with reflex actions. They suck everything that touches their lips. Gradually, they learn to suck on bottles, pacifiers, and fingers. From three to six months, the infants start to focus on their surroundings. Before this time, they just gaze at objects; but by this time, they begin to examine objects more closely. At six months, they can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar faces. Infants from three to six months start to show judgments. For example, they prefer the smell and voice of a parent than that of a stranger. From birth, infants make noises. By three to six months of age, vocalizations begin to increase. They also start to learn to touch, shake and bite objects. Memory and self-awareness are developing at this stage. They learn that hitting the crib makes a noise. At four months, an infant will start to learn about objects. If you give him an object, you can observe this predictable pattern: first, the infant will look at the object. Then he will try to put it on his mouth or shake it. He may also bang it on the floor. This is his way of learning what the object is used for. By three to six months of age, infants respond in new ways to touch. For example, if you kiss or blow on the infant’s stomach, she will smile, coo, or giggle in response. Babies also respond happily to tickling.
Six to Twelve Months
By the age of six to nine months, the concept of object permanence begins to develop. This concept is the understanding that objects continue to exist even if the baby cannot see them. At earlier stage, anything out of sight was out of mind for the infant. For instance, if a pacifier was placed under a pillow, the infant would not search for it. Now, the child will search for the pacifier under a pillow. This means that the child remembers that the pacifier was there. This shows that the child is developing memory and goal-oriented thinking. He takes an action with the goal of finding the pacifier. However, at this stage, the infant gives up within a few seconds. Part of object permanence involves understanding that some people exist all the time. The child know that even if a person is not within sight, the person still exists. The child begin to understand that she can cry as a call to her parents. Crying is also a sign that the child is learning to communicate. She learns that by making noises, she can get a parent to understand her needs. At the age of 9 to 12 months, the baby become more intentional about her needs and goals. she has definite ideas of what she wants. That is why when she is confined to a playpen, she cries to be taken out. She also learns how to anticipate certain wants. She may cry when a parent puts on a coat. The child learns that when this happens, mom will leave. When mom is back, she becomes happy and excited.
Twelve to Twenty – four Months
By the age of 12-18 months, children enjoy trial and error problem solving. They experiment with objects to find new ways to use them. They may toss, bounce, or roll the objects. They begin to understand that what they do affect the objects. They are happy when they find that objects can make noise. 
Children at this age learn ways to use cause and effect. For example, a child may learn that by reaching the dining table, he can reach for food. Cause and effect can also fascinate a child. For example, a child loves to hit water and watch it splash or turn on the switch and see the lamp light up. At this stage, language becomes a bigger part of communication. Most children can understand more words than they can say. They use on or two words to communicate. They do not know yet how to form sentences. Books also become important at this time. They love to listen as you read a story. They can also identify and name the pictures of objects in a book. By the age of 18-24 months, children start to think before they do things. They are able to apply what they know about objects to solve problems without much trial and error. For instance, the child may know that standing on a chair helps him reach a toy in a cabinet. The improved thinking and motor skills can make these children exhausting to take care of. They love to explore and know more about new things and places. But they still do not know the dangers that may be involved in exploring. Thus, a parent must carefully watch these children and try to make sure their environment is safe at all times. Also at this stage, pretending starts to be part of a child’s world. A child may carry a doll to imitate her mother. This is a form of deferred imitation. Deferred imitation is watching another person’s behavior and then acting out the behavior later. Children at this stage also understand that symbols may represent other real objects. A younger child might play with a doll by swinging it around or hitting things with it. But now, the child will hold it like a baby. Children are learning more and more words at this stage. They can even combine two words into little sentences like “Daddy went.” They also like to share what they know with you. They may point out the objects in the book and tell what they are. They can also name some parts of their bodies and other objects in the house.
