Signs Your Baby Loves You

She'll totally flirt with you

“Within a month or so of being born, babies respond to the facial expressions of their mothers, and without thinking about it, the moms start doing it right back,” says Gopnik. We're talking about the smiles, the meaningful looks, the coy looking away and back again (think back to ninth-grade study hall; you get the idea!). These goofy games appear to be as important in cementing a baby's attachment as your responses to her physical needs. At around 4 months, she'll also be unable to take her eyes off of you. And who can blame her? By then, she's gotten used to life on the outside, can suck and swallow, and is physiologically more regulated (i.e., is no longer eating and sleeping like a jet-lagged traveler), so she can begin to pay attention to more than just her immediate bodily needs, explains Gilkerson.

Flirt back—and don't be afraid to use exaggerated expressions. “Face-to-face interaction is part of how babies learn about positive give-and-take,” says Gilkerson. Your child's starting to realize that with a single look, she can show you how happy she is that you're around—and that it's a feeling worth sharing, since you'll beam back.