You and your baby have been engaging in lots of activities and conversations that have required shared attention. Your baby has been learning how to respond to you and has been using all their skills to engage you in tiny moments of joint attention. Up until now, you have heavily relied on your baby using body movement and simple facial gestures in order to communicate with you.
Your baby is now able to use their developing vocal sounds they have been making, and they may use them to tell you that they would like something, or simply to say, ‘I am awake.’ Your baby is discovering that their voice is a powerful means of communicating with you, therefore gaining attention is becoming easier for them. Your baby is beginning to understand that their actions have an impact on others around them. [1]
Babies are imitators; your baby will have observed adults interacting with one another and noticed that saying a name generates a response from the other. Your baby can now imitate this interaction by seeking your attention with a vocalisation. Your baby is also aware that you are becoming more attentive to their vocalisations, and they are now attempting to draw your attention to themselves by vocalising to you.
The earliest forms of your baby initiating play are beginning now that they are able to gain a response from you and they are able to give a response. [1] Their vocalisations may reflect calling for you, responding to what is happening or letting you know they want something to happen. It may be that your baby wants you to pull a silly face again, and they will vocalise a very happy sound to indicate they want more, they might create a louder noise to suggest they wish for something to be offered.
All these early acts of gaining your attention are encouraging signs that your baby is ready to engage in play.
They are starting to understand words and have been exploring talking, and they're enjoying the response. [2] Your baby will still need lots of scaffolding in this developing area of communication. They will gradually gain further understanding of attracting attention and interacting with others around them. You may begin to hear consistent use of some sounds, and these sounds will represent particular objects, people, or a part of their daily routine.
[1] Boswell. S. (2004(). Understanding your Baby. Jessica Kingsley Publishers
[2] Harding, C. G. & Golinkoff, R. M. (1979). The origins of intentional vocalizations in prelinguistic infants. JSTOR. Available at The Origins of Intentional Vocalizations in Prelinguistic Infants on JSTOR