Knows the names of a few everyday items

Your baby will now be becoming quite fluent in the art of baby conversation, their early vocalisations are being held with more intent and they are willing to try and communicate meaning with you. It is around this time that your baby’s brain has connected many words to objects, people and expressions in their daily routine and their level of comprehension is growing.  

Your baby has been using verbal and non-verbal clues, such as pointing and eye gazes, to determine what words mean. [1] To secure their knowledge of understanding early words and language, they have depended on you to locate an object that your baby is looking at, and then name it. [2] 

Initially, comprehending words starts slowly. Your baby may well start by understanding their name, and turn to you to show that they understood. Other frequently heard words will be understood like names of the family, phrases that are used in everyday life, body parts, favourite toys etc.  

These types of words are nouns, which is a word for people, places or things. The bulk of your baby’s early vocabulary will be nouns. It is far easier for your baby to associate words with objects and doing this slowly is actually a huge benefit. When babies acquire word meanings slowly, their understanding will ultimately be more accurate. [3] Your baby will be able to connect more meaning to the words if the objects used are consistent and the word is used frequently. It's unlikely that your baby will be able to recall all of the new language if a lot of new words are introduced in a short period of time. 

Shared Attention 

The moments of shared attention in the past few months are becoming richer. It's likely that you and your baby are beginning to share beautiful moments playing with an object, you are both aware of what's going on, and you are both actively engaged in it. 

Research tells us that when babies and adults are playing together, with an object already in the focused attention, there is more chance of them learning the word than bringing an object into their play. [4] Your baby is more likely to gain a strong memory representation of the word that connects the object, if the object is already of interest to your baby. 

What next?

Word learning will be slow, but your baby will eventually learn the names of lots of objects. They will begin to learn not only nouns, but also doing words, known as verbs. They will also understand, and react to abstract words such as ‘hello’. You may hear your baby create other sounds they are commonly hearing, such as a cough. They will start to connect all kinds of environmental sounds, not just words. 

References: 

[1] Moore, C., Angelopoulos, M., & Bennett, P. (1999). Word learning in the context of referential and salience cues. Developmental Psychology, 35(1), 60–68. 

[2] Baldwin, D.A. (1991). Infants’ contribution to the achievement of joint reference. Child Development, 62, 875–890. 

[3] Westermann. G. Mani. N (2018) Current Issues in Developmental Psychology. Early Word Learning. Routledge. 

[4] Tomasello. M, Farrah. M.J. (1986). Joint Attention and Early Language (Online Preview). Child Development. Available from: Joint Attention and Early Language on JSTOR