Nothing warms the heart more than your baby's very first real laugh. A home video of a belly-laughing baby can have a whole room of somber adults rolling on the floor in five seconds flat. But when should we expect that first laugh? What is its importance in a baby's development? And how can we make it happen more often?

A baby's laughter is magical and infectious. The first time is a joy to behold and family members just want to get it to happen again and again.

Heather Cook's now 8-month-old daughter started laughing for the first time when her 5-year-old brother performed for her. "He does everything," says Cook of Calgary, Alberta. "[He] dances, tickles, makes faces, talks gibberish ... and she loves it. We call him 'the entertainment committee' because he can always make her laugh. And best of all, he really enjoys the fact that she'll always laugh at him – making her happy makes him happy."

So when can parents look forward to that first laugh? "Babies develop at different rates," says Dr. Iman Sharif, associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx. "Some babies will give their first laugh as early as 2 months of age [and] about 90 percent of babies will give at least a little laugh by age 3 months."

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