parenting

Herbivorous vs. Predatory

Drawing parallels between the skills and development models of a human baby suggests that humans are more similar to predatory animals rather than herbivorous.

Many herbivorous animals can use their legs few minutes or hours after the birth. They can stand on their feet, see, hear, and walk by their mothers. Predatory animals on the other hand, need a lot of time to get to that stage. They are born blind and deaf, can barely crawl and totally depend on their parents to feed and take care of them.

Taking time to get to adulthood is apparently worth a while. Predatory animals seem to possess more skills. Strategic and tactical skills accompany hunting. Food stocking is vital for many. Using herbs and other natural resources for self-medication is common.

Safe mode

Disclaimer: Looking at Maxim all day long, feeding him, watching him being changed and bathed all makes me think a lot. I also talk to Olga a lot. Sometimes we are getting interesting thoughts, which I value enough to blog. So if you will read here something extremely wise, don’t immediatly assume that it’s from my head – it might have been Olga. :) (both past and future posts included).

It is interesting how similar infant is to a computer system booted in safe mode (or rescue mode if you will). Theoretically, human is capable of a whole bunch of actions – talking, walking, running, etc. But you don’t get all of these in with the infant. Instead, you get a system which has extremely limited capabilities – just a few reflexes and virtually no communication. You than, as a parent, must build upon these capabilities to develop new ones, which in turn will help you to develop new ones, and than slowly slowly you will reach that day when you will realize that your small infant is not so small and infant anymore, but instead a full-blown human being with much more functionality than you can find use for.

Another similarity between the two is absolute lack of manuals…

Obsession

I am getting obsessed with my son. Yesterday I was looking at him straight for four hours. Today I did so for almost twelve. He was asleep most of this time, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Every time I blink I feel guilty for missing the moment of his life. In the evening I started worrying a bit that my behavior is not normal, but one of my friends with few kids’ experience told me that its totally normal and traditional. He also said that it will get worse. I suspect that he is right, because more I look at Maxim, more I want to look.

If you need an analogy to understand what I feel, try remembering the most picturous sunset that you have ever seen (you did see one, didn’t you?). Do you remember how beautiful it was? Do you remeber how you stopped whatever you have been doing trying to see it all and not miss a bit? Now freeze the time. That is approximately how I feel…

Updated from the clinic

First full day in the fatherhood is over. I’ve learned a whole bunch of things today.

I am still pretty worried picking up Maxim, but I am building confidence fast. I’ve also feeded him from the bottle twice today. He seems to like it. The first time I did it, he looked at me very surprised and ate just a tiny bit. The second time though, he ate the whole bottle! Even the nurses were surprised when I brought back the empty bottle. There were plenty of milk – three of four times his normal intake he ate in one go. Nice!

I am also always around when they are changing his dipers. I am not touching it yet, but I observe. Maybe tomorrow I will try it. Don’t know.

We also tried to give him the breast today, but he doesn’t like it. Actually, he doesn’t seem to understand what it is and what it’s for. Maybe because it’s empty. Olga is still not allowed to drink any fluids, except that one cup of tea they gave her for the evening. Tomorrow she will start drinking water and tea, and maybe even eating. This should improve things in the “I am the dairy faery today” departent. We’ll see.

I am also trying to find my way around with the camera. It’s pretty dark when Maxim sleeps. Anyway, I am learning a few things there too.

Album location: /photos/2005/2005-02-24_Maxim_-_1_day_old

Wings?

First thing that I’ve noticed in the morning was that I am growing wings. Just kidding. I was feeling some discomfort with few muscles on my back. Actually, I never knew I had those muscles. Reviewing the previous day and trying to understand what might have caused the discomfort, I realized that it is from holding the baby. Not that the baby is so heavy – not at all. Trust me, I can easily hold 3680 grams with either of my hands. But it is not just 3680 grams we are talking about here. These are the most prescious 3680 grams ever! So, when holding these, there’s an unbelievable amount of concentration (both physical and mental). But I didn’t notice it yesterday, while I was holding Max…