Laser mouse moves cursor while in the air

If I lift my mouse a few cm from the desk and I move it the cursor still responds. Only when the mouse is lifted more than +- 5cm does the cursor stop to respond.

This is not desired behavior I guess. I want the cursor to only respond if the mouse is in contact with a surface. Is there a way to fix this?

I believe this means that your mouse actually functions very well. You could use a surface that doesn't reflect a laser as well, which would be something with a darker color (absorbing some of the light, rather than reflecting it), if you really don't like this, but I don't think there is physically a way to turn the laser power down, so to speak.