ClareBear is six weeks old today! She is getting bigger, more alert, more interactive and more complex every day. By complex, I mean she is occasionally fussier and harder to please. Gone are the days when a little bit of cuddling will solve all of her cries (and if that didn’t do it then a meal would). We’ve identified a new cry of hers – the cry of boredom. We don’t hear it very often, but she does let us know when she is not entertained by her surroundings. She also sometimes is happier when we’re not cuddling with her – her first signs of independence. It’s a little bit discouraging when my baby would rather watch her mobile than be with me, but I better get used to that. It helps when I see her smiling at her mobile, mirror, etc. She’s beginning to ‘play’ with her toys.

Her other developments are that she is beginning to open and close her hands (often around my shirt neckline or my hair) and she imitates our faces. She smiles back at us, sticks her tongue out, and purses her lips when J whistles to her. We had a few extremely fussy days, which I think is normal for the age, but they seem to have passed (fingers crossed). We got through them using our sling – she would sleep in it and we would get things done (like eat dinner). She ended up with a few extra crumbs in her hair, but we all were much happier. Like I said, I hope these days have passed and our quiet evenings will return.

On the parenting front, I went out for my first ‘night out’ this evening with some of the other Mommy’s from our birth class. It was only for a couple of hours but it was nice to get away a little bit, sit at a restaurant and not worry about diapers and spit up. We all commented that it felt weird to walk out of the house with just our purses and not a diaper bag and baby. We’re planning on making it a twice monthly event, so it will be something to look forward to. Of course I missed Clare, but it was kind of nice to look forward to seeing her.