Final answer:
While babies start crying from birth, they typically begin to cry with real tears at around two weeks to a month old as their tear ducts fully develop. During their first year, babies rapidly progress in social, emotional, and physical development, leading to smiling, babbling, and eventually talking.
Step-by-step explanation:
Babies begin to communicate their needs through crying almost from birth, as they know how to signal they require attention from their caregivers. However, babies do not typically produce real tears until they are several weeks old. This development usually occurs as their tear ducts mature and begin to function more fully.
Although crying can start from birth, crying with real tears typically doesn’t begin until about two weeks to a month old. Initially, infants may cry with tearless sobs, but as their lacrimal glands develop and start to produce tears, this changes. Hence, the baby’s emotional expressions, including crying with tears, will evolve during their development in the first few months of life.
In the realm of development, it is at around six weeks after birth that infants typically start smiling and making vocal sounds. By six months, infants are babbling, sitting, and possibly starting to crawl as their motor skills enhance. The progression in their social, emotional, and physical development is rapid and captivating, as they reach toward the milestone of saying their first words and taking their first steps by the end of their first year.