After a few weeks of what felt like blissful happy social engagement, Ruu seems to have reverted to her prior stage of avoiding eye contact (while eagerly looking at every interesting thing in sight), smiling less, sleeping more erratically, and being generally more cranky.
She does, however, take a bottle more easily, voraciously gulps down rice cereal, forcefully flails all her limbs at once, rolls over, and is eager to grab and mouth things (including a bowl of spaghetti I was eating, resulting in it being plastered all over her and me). When I talk, she remains quiet, but seems to be trying to move her mouth like I do.
It's like my giggly, babbly, ticklish, social butterfly daughter turned into an angst-ridden teenager overnight.
Well, that's putting it a little strongly, perhaps.
These phases and changes keep me on my toes. I miss my giggly baby that would look at me and talk back. I want her to be as excited about me as I am about her.
Perhaps she is, in her own way. She's clingy--loves being in the sling with me. She's cuddly--loves sleeping next to me. She's engaging--I've never seen her grab and mouth so many different toys and things around her.
I guess that her new awareness and exploration of all her surroundings may make her feel a little uneasy; so much that is new and unknown. So much more to see that isn't her parents. It must be overwhelming for her.
But she's a smart baby. I know she'll be fine.