When she wasn't eating, sleeping, or getting her diaper changed I felt obligated to try to pack as much knowledge in her tiny head as I could. I soon found out how unneccessary that was. I give myself an A+ for effort but all she really wanted at just under a week old was to be held and snuggled and look blankly at my face. I was stressing myself out trying to get some emotion out of her. Nothing.... She would be awake for a total of about 30 minutes before we started noticing that she was getting sleepy (teary eyes, staring off into space, and eventually the pouty lip that seemed to say "You have exactally 3 minutes before I self destruct").
Her belly button didn't fall off until she was about 2 weeks old so we had to wait until then do do tummy time. From the first time on the mat she was already able to lift her head up and turn it side to side. About a week later she was able to hold her head up for a few seconds! She's so strong!
We were constantly playing with her legs and moving them like she was riding a bicycle and her arms like she was rowing a boat. This really helped with her gas as well :)
Her favorite sounds came from her little sound machine that played animal noises and nursery rhymes. From day one I always talked to her and had one sided converstations. This actually was really helpful when she was going through her fussy periods. It helped me to get my frustrations out and also got her used to my voice. Of course I made tons of funny noises too to make her crack a tiny smile. :)
It wasn't until she was about 4 or 5 weeks old that she reallys started to interact with us. Smiles were fleeting but they were there and we would do anything short of standing on our heads to drag them out of her. She still was not interested in her toys but she was starting to "watch" tv. She takes after her daddy already....
At about 6 weeks old she really started to like to play with things and with us. She focused on the toys hanging above her mat and even smiled at them. She started making cooing sounds this week also. It was so cute to watch her play by herself and keep herself entertained. She started following our voices and reacting when we made certain pitched noises. She really loves when we sing to her. Her little eyebrows go up and she makes a little "whistle face" (my absolute favorite!)
My best advice:
-Keep it simple at first
- give them some toys to look at but not too many (I think I overstimulated Bryn in the beginning)
- Faces.....babies LOVE faces. The funnier and more stupid you look the better :)
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