1. **Soft Spots:** Babies are born with soft spots on their skulls called fontanelles, which allow for the baby's head to pass through the birth canal and also accommodate rapid brain growth during infancy.
2. **Rapid Brain Development:** A baby’s brain grows to about 60% of its adult size by the time they reach their first birthday.
3. **Sleep Patterns:** Newborns sleep for about 14 to 17 hours a day, but in short bursts because their stomachs are small and need frequent feeding.
4. **Babies' Taste Buds:** Babies are born with a preference for sweet tastes, which may be an evolutionary trait to ensure they seek out calorie-rich breast milk or formula.
5. **Crying Communication:** Babies cry as a means of communication. They have different types of cries for different needs, such as hunger, discomfort, or fatigue.
6. **Lack of Tears:** Babies don't produce tears until they are about 1 to 3 months old.
7. **Reflexes:** Newborns have a variety of reflexes, including the rooting reflex (turning their head towards anything that touches their cheek), the sucking reflex, and the Moro reflex (flinging out their arms and legs, then curling them back in, in response to a sensation of falling).
8. **Development of Senses:** Babies are born with limited vision (about 20/400), but their vision improves rapidly during the first few months. They prefer to look at faces and high-contrast patterns.
9. **Recognizing Voices:** Babies can recognize their mother’s voice from birth and often prefer it over other voices.
10. **Growth Rate:** Babies typically double their birth weight by around 5 months and triple it by their first birthday.
11. **Bone Formation:** Babies are born with about 270 bones, but as they grow, some of these bones fuse together. An adult human has 206 bones.
12. **Babbling:** Around 6 months of age, babies begin to babble, producing repetitive syllables like "ba-ba" or "ma-ma," which eventually evolve into recognizable words.
13. **Mirror Neurons:** Babies have mirror neurons that allow them to mimic facial expressions, which is crucial for social bonding and learning.
14. **Hand Preference:** Babies don't show a consistent hand preference for grasping objects until around 9 to 12 months of age.
15. **Regulated Body Temperature:** Newborns have trouble regulating their body temperature, which is why they often need to be swaddled or kept warm.
16. **Unique Smell:** Babies have a unique smell that is believed to aid in mother-infant bonding.
17. **Breathing Rate:** Babies have a faster breathing rate than adults, averaging around 40 breaths per minute compared to an adult's 12 to 20 breaths per minute.
18. **Limited Communication:** Although babies can understand language before they can speak, their ability to communicate verbally typically develops around 12 to 18 months.
19. **Immunization from Breast Milk:** Breast milk contains antibodies that help protect babies from infections and diseases, providing them with passive immunity.
20. **Tactile Sensitivity:** Babies have highly sensitive skin and can experience discomfort from rough fabrics or textures.
21. **Sleep Cycles:** Babies spend more time in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep than adults, which is believed to be important for brain development.
22. **Milestones:** Babies reach various developmental milestones at different rates, but there's a wide range of what's considered normal.
23. **Digestive System:** A newborn's digestive system is still developing, which can lead to issues like colic, gas, and reflux.
24. **Growth Spurts:** Babies go through several growth spurts during the first year, during which they may eat more, sleep more, or be more irritable than usual.
25. **Unique Personalities:** Even from birth, babies exhibit unique personalities, preferences, and temperaments, shaping their interactions and experiences with the world around them.
