Until just recently Lucy has been an extremely happy baby, really easy going. Now she's increasing her emotional repertoire by adding fussy and downright inconsolable.

OK...in all fairness I make things sound far worse than they really are. But the fact of the matter is that she's not as consistently happy as she was and sometimes we just can't figure out what on earth is wrong (not for lack of trying). Maybe it's just a growth spurt. Maybe she doesn't like the temperature. Maybe she's mourning for the sad state of affairs the world finds itself in of late. We. don't. know. And therein lies our frustration.

The hard part about parenting a newborn* is not the nightly disturbances, not the diaper changing, not the constant feeding (though those things can make one a wee bit crazy). The truly hard part about parenting a newborn is not being able to communicate. Oh sure, certain cries indicate certain things and certain motions = "feed me!!!" But what I'm talking about are those times when baby is fussy, not giving any clear indicators of what's wrong, has been changed and fed, and is being cuddled but still lets you know that she is not a happy camper. As a mother (or father, in Adam's case) you want to soothe your little one. You want to do whatever it is that will make her feel all better. But since she can't tell you what that is you're forced to sit there like a clueless idiot holding her and desperately trying to figure out what on earth is bothering her. And when you're functioning on little sleep you don't exactly have a lot of brain power left to utilize in the quest for answers.

But you know, I'd rather feel clueless and frustrated than not try.

Bonus points if you can name what movie this post's title is from (and no cheating)!

*At what point is a baby no longer a "newborn?"