My newest theory

Being the parent of a newborn requires a lot of theorizing.  The baby can't tell you what's on her mind or bothering her body, so you've got to be a scientist: observing, collecting data, looking for patterns, coming up with a hypothesis, testing it, coming up with a working theory.  When Agatha started waking up more often at night a few weeks ago (after we'd gotten to nearly sleeping through the night) and getting more fussy and impatient during the day, my theory was "teething"-- which is the default theory for nearly all new parents to explain nearly everything!  It seemed to fit my data, and occasionally seemed to be confirmed by testing things like, did Tylenol help.  But no teeth have appeared, and my favorite sleep scientist writes that teething does not cause night waking (unlike ear infections, psoriasis, and few other things).  My new theory is: she's simply growing.  She's getting more interested in the world and more aware of the connections between her actions and things that happen in the world.  She can't move herself yet, but she's more impatient with sitting in one spot and want us to move her around to see the world (hence her increased fussiness at times during the day-- at least compared to the serene girl who would happily play on her own or watch you from her bouncy seat).  And she realizes that if she fusses at night, we will come in and attend to her. 

All this is wonderful, of course.  And it helps to have a theory to explain it!