10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Your Baby

1. Baby knows you're mad. A recent study showed that 15-month-olds remembered that they saw an adult get angry, and even changed their behavior to avoid being the target of that person's anger. So think twice before yelling at your hubby in front of your baby—it may have more of an affect than you think.

2. Babies control us with their cuteness. A baby's adorable fingers and toes, cooing noises, and even their sweet smell are scientifically engineered to appeal to all of our senses in order to kick our caregiving sensibilities into high gear, according to a recent study. Baby survival skillz for the win!

3. Babies' brains are pretty advanced. Their noggins may be tiny, but new research shows babies as young as 7 months old understand other people's behaviors much the same way adults do. They also mirror others' behaviors, so be careful what your baby sees you doing!

4. It takes babies three months to adjust to life outside the womb. Baby's body is warm, but his fingers and toes are cold? Because his circulatory system is still developing, blood is shunted more often to vital organs and systems, where it's needed most. His hands and feet are the last body parts to get a good blood supply.

5. Babies sneeze a lot. Nope, it's not a cold. It's simply how they clear their nasal and respiratory passages of congestion and airborne particles. Sneezing also helps reopen a temporarily closed nostril, often caused by pressing his nose up against Mom while nursing.

6. Babies' heads grow fast. The average newborn has a head circumference of 14 inches at birth. By 1 year old, a baby's head is about 18 inches. The average adult head? About 22 inches in circumference. That means half of head growth happens in the first 12 months and the other half over the next 17 years.

7. Babies have superhero-like vision. According to a recent study, infants of 3 or 4 months of age can see differences in similar images that older babies and adults won't notice. Though we are first born being able to see all the differences, we later learn to ignore them so we can recognize the same object as unchanging in many different scenarios, an ability called perceptual constancy. Without it, very young babies see the same object in different lighting, for example, as completely different objects.

8. Naptime boosts baby's memory. In a recent study, babies who were shown how to take mittens off puppets were more likely to remember how to do it if they took a 30-minute nap after the lesson. Much like in adults and older kids, a midday snooze helps babies retain memories. So, parents: Take advantage of that pre-naptime learning opportunity!

9. 20 percent of babies are head-bangers. No, not the heavy metal kind. Older babies may bang their heads while dozing off to sleep to distract from teething or an earache. Experts say this self-soothing is usually normal. Boys are much more likely to do it than girls are, and it typically slows or stops by age 3.

• New parent? Sign up for our freeParents Daily for Babies newsletter

10. Newborns don't shed tears. Until babies are between 1 to 3 months old, their tear ducts and glands only produce enough liquid to lubricate and protect their eyes.