[blparent] Baby Play

[Allison]

Hi All,

Taking a few minutes while almost 7 week old Allyssa chills in her swing. I suspect she is about to erupt in screeching in a matter of minutes because heaven forbid I'm paying attention to something other than her for five minutes so my apologies if this message seems rushed, scrambled, filled with typos, or otherwise incoherent. 

Allyssa is starting to interact with the world more which is exciting and fun, but I find that I can rarely tell when she is engaged with something and when not. I can feel where her head is turned, place objects in her hand, etc, but I can't really observe whether or not she is actually looking at something. We have all sorts of baby toys and I try to make sure to let her experience a variety of positions, but I feel like I'm just guessing about what she will be interested in and which not. So far my barometer is, is she crying? If no, then good. But I imagine there is more to it to it than that. Anyone have suggestions for how to best play with a baby and how to know when they are engaged in an activity and when not? She's not really old enough to reach out for objects yet so that indicator won't work. Right now I basically just put toys near her or dangle them by her head, or place in her hand. Is that enough? 

Tips are appreciated.

Thanks,
Allison