Nobody is interested when people rave about their children, people look on with disinterested condescension. I know, I've done it myself. I've no problem listening to it, but it's hard to connect with if it's not your child, I know.
But my son is 3 1/2 months old now, it's the beginning of the best age. He started laughing, a delighted chuckle - my daughter rushed up to me the other day from where she'd been minding him, and announced 'Momma! He just did his first human laugh - a real human laugh!' So I'm thrilled to see she's starting to accept him as a human.
He's rolled over on the sofa, and is working on it on the floor, and can do serious push-ups. And he's started to be amused by peek-a-boo. But best of all, he loves to launch himself off the top of our knees, and give these great baby, open mouthed kisses. I'm astounded by the speed with which babies learn social behaviour - he can't do the 'mwa' yet, and doesn't know what to do if you just bring him to your face, but the idea is there, and he loves it. If you could see his little mouth held open to give a kiss, and the softness of it pressed against your cheek, he's such a cure.
I remember my MIL's niece asking my (then) baby daughter for a kiss, and then being so surprised and delighted when she actually gave her one. It makes me so sad to see how people underestimate and undervalue babies' emotional intelligence. And I feel so sorry for those of us who have children who do not possess that innate ability to observe and copy and implicitly understand social behaviour.
No comments:
Post a Comment