Do Babies Know Time?

Do babies have a sense of time? Or do they just get to know the "routine" of their days?

It's an interesting question.

I'm guessing it's more routine, but sometimes Lizzy makes me think otherwise. She's demonstrated that she knows about what time I come home from work (well, when I used to go to work). She would go over to the door/gate and cry for mommy. (aww) Cuteness aside though, what makes her do this? Is it that she knows it's been about "so much time" that it's time for mommy to come home? Maybe routine and having a sense of time are very closely related to each other.

What really intrigues me about this is that another kid I know doesn't seem to know what's what when it comes to time. For example, when the parents went away on vacation she never went to the door/gate and call for mommy, never gave any semblance of realization that mommy and daddy were even gone. Didn't seem to bother her one bit! Anyway, she was of course happy to see them when they did return, but her behavior is so different than Lizzy's...makes me wonder...do we just chock it up to kids being different?

Perhaps Lizzy is beginning to develop a sense of time, based on her routine. She knows sort of what to expect during her days, so this routine gives her a solid ground on which to understand that so much time has passed since lunch or since mommy left, etc.

It's so inspiring and wonderful to see babies'/toddlers' little brains working and trying to solve big concepts like time and place. Amazing, amazing, amazing we human beings are!! The human brain is just so very fascinating!