"Good baby"

I have been told that Lauren is a "good baby", the corollary implication being that there must exist "bad babies". I feel very sorry for these children, if their parents already see them as negative, manipulative beings. Really, all a newborn can do is eat, relieve themselves, sleep and make little wiggles and beginings of sounds. We can attribute all kinds of adult behaviors to them, such as "she likes you", "she's so good to sleep through this", etc. but really, they are not doing anything to impress their parents, they are simply living their lives. It is the optimism of the caretakers that assigns this label of "good" to otherwise normal, standard baby behaviors.

That having been said, I am pleased that Lauren's physiology allows her to sleep for comparatively long stretches at night (sometimes 5 hours) so that I also can (theoretically) sleep. In actuality, I find that I cannot simply "turn off" and go to sleep when she does, so that old advice of "sleep when the baby sleeps" is sooner said than done!

We have tried our best to anticipate and meet her basic needs, so she doesn't cry very much, since a simple "Eh" will usually be rapidly heeded. However, nothing can be done to console her when she is having her diaper changed, and that is when the loud wails can be heard. At times she relaxes and seems to forget that she does not like having her genitals wiped at. (No, the wipes warmer did not help and in fact, the wipes are cold by the time they go from the warmer to her body.) So in this sense, if you were observing her at most of her daily routine, and not present for a typical diaper change, you might be tempted to say "WHAT A GOOD BABY!"