The Art of Making New Friends

Now that I am a Mom I'm meeting a lot of new people (usually moms) at all the different things I take Claire to, like the nursery or mom's group at church or just random mom's in the grocery store (having a baby is kinda like owning a motorcycle, when you take yours out you smile or in some way acknowledge all the other people with one). I'm also meeting up with old friends that also have kids. Many of the friends I hang out with already don't have kids yet so I don't have a ton of people to hang out with during the day. When I meet other moms I get very excited about the prospect of a new mom friend and a new daytime hang out buddy! 
I find that making new friends is a difficult course to navigate. First off I want to get a feel for how many friends the person already has and then see if they would have room for me in their life. If it seems that they would want to be friends, then I want to figure out what kind of friendship this is going to be. Is it a facebook message or email and then get together once every couple of months or is it a text or phone call and then get together once a week kind of deal? Honestly, I'm not picky. I'm up for whatever, I just like to have a clear idea of what the expectations are. 
If you want to seem like a "cool mom" you can't just come right out and ask the questions you really want to ask, (I learned this the hard way. Sorry to all the moms out there that I totally freaked out.) you have to be really subtle, giving the person the impression that you are in the market for a couple new mom friends, without seeming desperate. Then you want to breezily ask about their week and look for clues as to how many people they see during the week and if they may want to see you as well. Once you have acquired the information you need then it is time to set up the first play date. Using the words "play date" is a very good idea because it makes it seem that you just want to hang out with them so that your kids can be friends, even though they probably will just sleep or play on your lap the whole time while you talk to your new friend!