In the last month or so, Austen has undergone a major change. She no longer cries as much, or has such a short, explosive fuse: going from silence to yelling in a split second. During her second month of life, we had trouble taking her out of the house because of the arduous attention required to keep her calm. It seemed like half her waking hours were spent on the verge of crying and in need of soothing. The Happiest Baby on the Block was our bible; we used the 5 S’s everyday: Swaddling, Swinging, Side position, Sucking, and Shhhhing. Once Austen began crying, it took everything we had to snap her out of it. She’d turn red, close her eyes and put up a barrier to the world.
Now, at four months, she still has her cranky moments (and even a few cranky days) but the amount and duration of crying has decreased dramatically. Most importantly, it’s so much easier to break through her baby shell and convince her there’s nothing to complain about. We theorize that she no longer feels so helpless and trapped in her body: she can use her arms and legs and neck and eyes, instead of being just about incapable of intentional movement. It takes only a word, saying her name, a smile, or a toy to make her happy. Moving her to a different sitting position, or to a new environment, cuts off a crying fit. During a recent car ride, she got a little overheated in her car seat and began to fuss, so Mommy, Daddy and Beerinder started singing the words “Miss Fussypants” like lyrics from the Alleluia chorus (high notes, low notes, and middling notes) and she stopped making noise, furrowed her brow and focused on the silliness as if thoroughly entertained. When Austen gets tired out from playing and needs a nap, she is still swaddled and rocked, but the process goes much smoother and is much less noisy these days. With a little distraction, Austen’s day is full of smiles and interest in new things.