Elsa, 8 weeks

Our girl Elsa is changing. Every day she is less like a newborn and more like a baby. (We’re even packing away the tiniest baby clothes and getting out the next biggest size!) She smiles, coos and gurgles constantly. She sits in her bouncy chair and looks intently at the rattles and play things that hang down—and I swear that she talked to them this morning. She’s not a big crier, but when she does cry, you won’t miss it. She’s loud. As I have said to many people, Elsa is not a big fan of being alone in her crib. Her latest thing is that she screams when I put her in, but when I look in the crib to check on her, she stops screaming and flashes her best baby smile. She knows I’ll pick her up—or at least stay by the crib and talk to he—when she looks so cute. One morning, my mom came over to visit and I told her this story. Elsa promptly did the same thing to her. As a teacher and a person who has studied the brain, I’m thrilled that she is already figuring out her environment and how to interact with it. As a parent, I’m terrified that at the tender age of 8 weeks, she already knows how to manipulate us.