Snaps: cute vol. 15 part 1

We finally got rain! To people who live in drought areas, we rejoice over the smallest of little drops and do weird things like have rain gauges, go out to watch the rain and sit or dance in it, which is what we did. Well, one night some of us from the neighborhood sat in the rain. Another day, Ivan and I danced in it and tried to catch it in our mouths (snowflakes are easier and much more rewarding).

Since it was cooler, I got to put Dominique in her first pair of jean overalls! I love jeans and there is something so incredibly cool about seeing your kids in jeans. Ivan and Dominique are both so cute in regular jeans, jean shorts, jean jackets, jean ballcaps. I don't know what it is about the jean material that is so appealing and really quite versatile. It goes with every color and has boasted many fads: cut offs, acid wash, low rise, wranglers, levis, black, blue, pink (yikes!)...


It looked to me like Ivan was reading to Dominique. I'll post the video in a future post. Did I tell you how (being the oldest sibling) I had to teach my sister everything I learnt at school since she wanted to know what I did all day and was desperate to go as well. Did I explain how she got straight As while I struggled for my Ds and Cs? No hard feelings, but I think I should get a little credit for her As! Apparently, history does repeat itself.

Ivan's hammer didn't come with nails (maybe they are a hazard to young children). What would this mom know, I gave him real ones (and hammered them in, so that in principle he couldn't get them out, although somehow he did!) So much for me disproving all those toy testers who omited the nails on purpose!

Ivan's favorites

I wrote some time ago about some of my favorite things. Now it's time to highlight Ivan's favorites. This clip shows off one of his favorite games.
He also loves playing darts, going down slides and swinging on swings, or arms or from the tree if he could get up there. He likes swimming and spinning. He thinks it is hillarious to bump his bare belly into me when he is running naked to or from the bath. I don't know what that is all about. Ketchup is now a household essential since it is one of the few ways to get Ivan to eat vegetables. Bread poses no problems, he'd gobble up a whole loaf if I gave it to him as well as any other related bread like food: waffles, crackers, cereal... He is very fond of baby Einstein videos that we have been borrowing from the library as well as his sign language one that he owns. Ivan enjoys imitating a dog, hitting the dog, throwing toys to the dog and laying beside the dog. He also likes to feed our dog his non-ketchuped vegetables.

Ivan loves to scream, especially if it is right next to his sleeping sister.

His most used words are: "more" and "bye-bye". He uses "bye-bye" anytime he stops or puts away something. Like "bye-bye shoes", "bye-bye eeee" (the alphabet is called eeee, which makes sense when you sing the song half the letters sound like eee). We are not sure why, but he has decided that flowers are now "strawberries", or sometimes "fl-ow-berries", which agravates me since he had this word down so well, which makes him laugh, which is probably why he keeps mislabeling them.

Anything outside is great. I suppose Ivan's most favorite moment would be eating bread and drinking ketchup in the pool, outside, while spinning naked, barking and screaming at his sleeping sister (but I don't think we'll let him do that). So... from the little man "bye-bye computer".

What are some of your favorites?

snaps: cute and quirky vol. 14

I think I know why the twos are terrible. It's the same reason why the teens are hard, the pre-grad is hard and the forty is hard. It's that "wonderful" time of transition. I think as a human race, we prefer for the most part to be comfortable. Comfortable means stability and controle and confidence. Change is uncertainty, redifining self, courage and is just plain difficult, at times exciting, but also hard. All of the ages mentioned above are times of transition in life: who am I? how do I go from this step to the next? what do I want to do? am I accomplishing what is important? Of course, I don't think ALL these questions are going through Ivan's mind presently, but he is definitely still part baby and part little boy. He is dependant in so many ways, but stretching his wings. He's learning what he wants, how to get it and that mommy doesn't always say "yes" when he finally gets there. It's a tough place to be. But it's also fun. He can still swing in a little kid swing, but he's old enough for ice cream. He can cry over little things and get his booty wiped by others and can climb up the slides and go down by himself.

Meanwhile, Dominique is totally dependant and very compliant. She is discovering sights and sounds, feels and smells. She has started looking at toys hanging from her swing and smiles at her parents and friends who gleefully coo and make fools of themselves in the hopes of seeing her smile. And her smiles are worth all the humiliation.

Ivan brings laughter wherever he goes. From things he does to things he says. When we both get laughing, things get real crazy!
Myka didn't want to wear her hat at her party. So I told Ivan to put it on. He loves to be the center of attention and get the room roaring, which they did.



All this makes me wonder what Dominique's personality will be like. Any guesses?

It smells like chlorine

I had my 6 week post check-up (yes, Dominique is already 6 weeks old!) and everything is well, so I got to go back to my pregnant mom water aerobic class. The class was definitely a lot smaller since about 7 of us delivered in July and another couple were due this week and were missing. It's exciting when someone is absent near her due date because we are always wondering if she is having her baby. I had my first return lady. Well actually, she was in the class when I was pregnant with Ivan. She had a boy a few months after Ivan was born and now she is expecting her second in the spring of '07.

I just love the water. Some years ago I discovered that I can get out of sorts if I don't exercise regularly. I had never noticed until then since I had always gone swimming or played ringuette or hockey. So I've made it a goal to swim regularly here. With the class, I don't really get to swim, but I do get to exercise and the interaction with the pregnant moms is great. I also like to lift weights and go for walks. I really enjoyed rollerblading, but that is on hold since I usually have a couple of little ones now which complicates the matter. This is why you are supposed to live close to relatives I guess, so they can help hold or love on a little one while you do some of these other things of life. But that's our fault (being far away) and I know we'll get into a rhythm or figure out some way to incorporate our children in activities we enjoy. To tell you the truth, even when I'd go do laps at the pool, I'd be thinking of how I was away from Ivan. I enjoyed my alone time and needed it, but a part of me was longing for my child just the same.

I want to also find a way to take Ivan to the pool from time to time. It just amazes me how quickly he is learning. When I first put him in the float suit you see him in, I could never let go of him or he went under. Then he could hold onto a noodle, then I could let him go with a noodle to hold onto. Eventually he got to where he is now, where he can keep himself afloat a bit. I still have to watch him VERY closely though.



Do you exercise? Do you like to play sports? What physical activities do you most enjoy?

Our swingin' son

Remember swinging as a kid at the playground? We used to hound mom to give us underducks. Did you love those? Do you know what they are? Where someone pushing you on the swing runs under you as they push you high above their heads. That was so fun. Slides were great too, merry-go-rounds and teeter-totters (neither of which they have any more). The playground we liked had a recreation center (a building where a city worker did activities with the kids) and a little paddling pool. Jennifer and I went a lot those summers. I remember making candles, making rubex cube costumes for the parade we were in and making stone soup, which I thought was the best tasting soup ever. Playgrounds aren't like they used to be. My friends won't let their kids go to their apartment playground, where there are frequently fights and conflicts.

What was your favorite park or playground ride? Do you think parks are worse then they used to be? What can be done to make them better?

Her first dip

Ivan is having more and more fun in the water and trying new moves. It's great that he is starting to entertain himself some. Dominique did great her first time in the water. I did have to change her onesie after she blasted through the first one with some of the alarming stuff that shoots out her rear end. Diapers are always an adventure. Newborns have shocking diapers- both in content and in expulsion. Toddlers have potent diapers. I know if you mass produced what he creates, you'd have a deadly weapon that could devastate cities. Chemical warfare at it's worst!

It's back to school here, so what did you do this summer? Just kidding. Sort of. What was your favorite part of the summer?

Mine was of course the little nine pound wonder seen above in living color. And visits from mom, dad and Nana. It's so fun to have the grands around and also watch the love affair between them and our children.

our partyingnest weekend

What a crazy fun weekend! Friday I had several friends pop by and we had fried fish with Big Buddy across the street- always fun, always a treat. The fish was great, but it inadvertently caused a sleepless night. The good news was that Dominique slept about 7 hours straight. The bad news is that Ivan was thirsty from the fish and came into our room at 2am, 4am, 5am, then I got up to feed Dominique at 6am. So we were still up every couple of hours or less, but Dominique is sleeping more and more at night, much better than Ivan ever did. I think the Lover is having mercy on me and knows my limits, so He's given us a sleep loving baby.


Saturday was so fun too. I hosted our first ever baby boast. I facilitate a water aerobics class at the YMCA for pregnant women and there were about 6 or more of us due in July (3 of us the same week). We all wanted to see each other again post-pregnancy and most of all see all those precious babies, the fruit of our labor, that were there with us in class as unseen participants the entire time. Saturday was our grand day. Two of the babies were born in the spring (March and April), the rest were born end of June to end of July. We had such a blast seeing each other and seeing our babies together that I think we'll have another. A few ladies didn't make it and I forgot about a couple who had their babies several months ago, so we'll see who can come next time. But there is something precious about sharing experiences with others who have been there, sharing expertise and tricks and memories, what has made us strong or sad or ecstatic or silly!

Right after the baby boast we headed out to Angie's farm where Ivan and I swam in the pool and we shared friendship and roasted hotdogs. It's always so relaxing to be out there with our friends and the water was so refreshing too. We even stopped by the lake on the way out since Dominique had a feeding emergency.

Sunday we had barbecue with our neighbor and her friends. It was good to hang out. Ivan danced to the Spanish music and ate up their chicken, tortillas, corn, mashed potatoes and drinks (there was more food, that is just what he ate, he loves the way they cook here in Texas- lots of meat!!) We were outside which was a good thing because he spilled 2 or 3 drinks on himself, fell once in the dirt and got down and sat in the dirt too. Daddy got that clean-up job for bath time!

We are so thankful for friends and parties!!!

Snaps: cute and quirky vol. 13

I love the way the light filters in through windows in those morning and evening hours, that magical time when life slows down, when it is waking or retiring and you look up and breathe in it's charm, reflect and pause, unrushed, enriched and enthralled by the beauty of the moment.

It's funny to me to see Ivan do "grown up" things. Brian likes to sit outside in the morning and drink his coffee and spend time with the lover. Ivan sits beside him, taking in the scenery, no responsibilities, no troubles, looking at life through pure and untarnished eyes, sitting all relaxed like his daddy, enjoying being with him, beside him, sitting like an adult in the body of a child.

I found a patch of green in our lawn, where Brian is watering the pecan tree in hopes of some kind of fruit this year (our garden yielded nothing and was a big disappointment). Dominique however is the picture of vitality and oh so dainty in her hat!

Our darling daughter and her brother share a tender (if not staged) moment for the camera.

Must remember the hammock when it gets cool enough to be outside (December maybe?) Actually a couple of times we've felt a coolness in the breeze. The temperature gauge read 100 (about 37C), but the wind, when blowing, had a hint of fall. AHHHH, fall. I've resigned myself not to have a big season change, no dramatic cooling off, no end of summer, bring out the sweaters weekend, no dramaticly colorful leaf send off. But I'll just be happy with a bit of relief from the heat, so we can go outside and not have to either shower and change clothes or just sit in our stinky sweat all day, so we can go for long walks without a giant sized cooler, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen and personal air machines.

a few of my favorite things

a few of my favorite things




1) raindrops-- definitely, but if you can't get rain, which apparently is a difficult thing for West Texas from the drought that has been going on SINCE BEFORE I GOT HERE (I'm starting to think it's not really a drought, but only wishful thinking that life could be different here, wetter), we have to make our own water fun. It's still extremely hot, so swim half the year away!








2) Here's our long moment of hug, hug, hug, cuddle, cuddle, cuddle which is definitely among my favorite things.









3) Great support in Brian, like when he takes Ivan outside to hang out and do guy stuff, you know like with work gloves. Ivan loves those work gloves. Also a big bonus is in the times when he juggles the two of them and I got off free!!!









4) Going places and doing things, like walking downtown where somehow one feels more inspired, artistic, alive. Don't know why, just do. Here we were headed to the library. I love the library. Free movies, free music, free spanish books, novels, kids music and movies and books, programs and activities all for free, free toys and prizes all summer for your kids just for walking in the door. And did I mention that it's all free! We also have some great museums that are free. Yipee! Sometimes you have to just go and remember that the world is bigger than our block, more involved than our little dilemnas, more diverse than my history and breathe in the vastness of it.









5) Laughter and smiles and silly stories and fun times. Kids are so great. They provide unlimited entertainment. Everything is exciting to them (an airplane, a flower, food- unless it's vegetables, and anything out of place is cause for instant hilarity). And there is nothing like the touch, the smile, the laughter, the voice of one's own kids. Dominique has already started recognizing her daddy and I and SMILING!!! OH, what delight! Most beautiful thing I've ever seen- that joyful recognition and she means it about ME! The smiles are sporadic, fleeting, surprising and bring me deeper into this total love affair I have with my children that totally wows me, enchants me, amazes and charms me.

The first child

Brian jokes that my sister is a middle child advocate, defending and supporting the needs of the neglected middle child. She has a big job, but she is very convincing ;) I guess that leaves me with being the first child advocate since I am a first.


I do feel sympathy for Ivan sometimes. In an instant, he had to go from only child/baby to someone that takes on responsibility. He puts things in the garbage for me and picks up for me (ok, most of the time he made the mess in the first place). These are good habits to learn, but I also see him following the path of the older child as he helps with Dominique (voluntarily and by suggestion). If he sees her in her vibrating chair, he always turns it on for her. If she starts to cry, he rocks whatever she is sitting in or pats her. I am glad he is learning compassion, tenderness and helping. But then sometimes he will look at me all grown up and start patting me on the shoulder, which I find weird from my own toddler. I understand the hugs and kisses, but patting seems strangely out of place, overly motherly or fatherly and it reminds me of some older child syndromes. I remember mom calling me "worry wart" because I would scold her for using too much of this or that. She would tell me that I was too young and didn't have to worry about the family finances, but I guess since I overheard things (she also called me "big ears"), I would feel like I had to do my part to help the family succeed (or stay afloat). I know when I went off to college, most of the nightmares I had were about my siblings being in trouble (usually by sharks, some monster, or an unsightly disaster) and I was trying to rescue them.

Yesterday, I was in the paddling pool with Ivan and Dominique. Brian took Dominique out early since she was cold and Ivan and I just played together. Then he crawled in my arms and just let me hold him and rock him for probably a good 10 minutes. Every once in a while he plays baby by crawling into one of her contraptions and imitating her cries. I'm not sure if he wants attention or is just imitating her (he imitates everyone), but I could tell from yesterday that sometimes he just wants to be held and be the baby or kid again- leave the worries about Dominique, or helping or doing good and just be held.

I know my personality has been etched by the fact that I'm the oldest. I don't think it was a bad thing, but it definitely helped shape who I am, how I think, the way I act... Where did you fall in birth order? Do you think that affected how you are today? How?

Snaps: cute and quirky vol. 12

Kim, my faithful friend that I've had since kindergarten makes sure we remember our Canadian roots. Thank you Kim!! She even sent a book on how to be a Canadian in case I should forget. It has wonderful reminders like... of what it is like to get your tongue stuck to a frozen metal pole (which every Canadian has done or has watched someone do in horrified wonder making a strong enough lesson to keep one from trying no matter how tempting it may look and it is tempting, I don't know why, but frozen poles really do look delicious).











Dominique being cute and Ivan, quirky.










Just chillin' with my lil' sis.







Apparently Dominique was deep in thought when she inadvertently drifted off to lala land where she will continue to solve the world's problems. First item on the agenda: how to keep my brother from waking me up, or at least how to so induce myself in sleep that his wake-up tactics bounce off like so many counted sheep.

Life of the party

We had a fun time this past weekend. Thursday night we went to a graduation party for a friend. We knew a few people from our old school days and early times in Abilene, so that was fun to catch up. Then we went to Myka's birthday party which coincided with her grandpa's birthday who is also our friend. It was good to be with people we hadn't seen in a while, eat good food, hang out and also discover more of our son's personality.

With both groups, Ivan acted real shy upon arrival, but as the evening wore on, he lit up. He would find toys and play with them or if there were no toys, make some from various household items, which created a new game- mommy catch the child before the child breaks/wrecks/offends someone or something depending on the case. He had a blast, as we did, and ended up providing much entertainment along with Myka at her party.

not so sweet melodies

I've had requests for a audio clip of Dominique's voice. I wish there was an easy way to record her cute cooing or squeaks and grunts that provide rhythm through our nights as she sleeps, but I'd have to just sit there all night with a recorder and that ain't happening! Instead, you get some of her awake noises, which is contentment (silence) or frustration (crying). So far, she doesn't have any other stations. So here she is, little mighty lungs and her performance of "I've got the blues".



What sounds do you hear through the night? At our old apartment, we used to hear the train (only three blocks away) several times every night. Now we hear Dominique and last night, Ivan saying "mommy, mommy". I have yet to get him to understand that at night he is daddy's responsibility. Daddy slept through Ivan's calling at the foot of our bed as well as the momentary cry while I hurriedly heaved him up into bed with us. However, Brian didn't sleep through the kick to the face about 30 min. later as Ivan tried to stretch his body on top of mine AND daddy's. That got Ivan expelled back to his room and left both of us awake until the next feeding which zonked me back out. Sometimes we hear dogs barking, but not as much as we used to. Thankfully Dominique has learnt the art of sleeping through about everything. I guess she's like me in that. Are you a light or heavy sleeper?

Snaps: quirky vol. 11 part 2

Every time Ivan sees this picture he laughs. So does Brian. Brian gets a kick out of pictures with the pets. I don't get it. Are they funny to you? I think it's fun to see how the kid keeps getting bigger while the dog stays the same.

Ivan always wants to grab the camera as I am taking his picture.

Smile for the camera- or don't! Notice how her angel kiss gets deep red when she is crying. I think it's a built in alarm button. Ivan had one too. The Designer must have thought we'd need all the help we could get... like "in case they can't tell their child is upset, this bright red mark will appear on their forehead and then they'll know for sure that he/she is angry or hurt". I wish there was a button like that for dirty diapers. Better yet, how about a series of buttons with labels like: needs a hug, wants to play, wants to go outside, hungry, thirsty, feeling sick, just a little grumpy today. This would help tremendously.

Ivan loves drinking water and will often help himself to our water jugs. This one is almost too big for him, but he doesn't know it!

Several times now people have asked me how old my baby is and I had to think a while. My confusion was over who was my baby! I don't know why, but I don't think of Dominique as a baby. For one thing, Ivan's been it for almost 2 years and I'm used to giving his age. Secondly, I think of Dominique as our daughter, or as Ivan's little sister or just as this amazing little person: Dominique. I don't know why I keep forgetting that she is a baby. You would think night feedings, diapers and little itty bitty clothes would clue me in. Does anyone else have this problem? Does this sound totally insane to you? Is there some logical explanation for my cluelessness (apart from sleep deprivation?).

Snaps: cute vol.11

Ivan thinks it's hillarious when his daddy wears his "doo rag". Brian would walk into a room and Ivan would laugh uncontrollably. We finally figured out this happened everytime Brian has a doo rag on. Ivan also reserved this special treatment for complete strangers wearing doo rags, like a lady at the doctor's office and aunt Shayshay. With time, Brian has perhaps convinced Ivan doo rags are a cool thing, 'cause Ivan wants to wear them now and laughs at himself too. Maybe he just wants more people to laugh at!



Baby news: we had two neighbors give birth to girls yesterday. One was Angela down the street who also has a boy 6 months difference from Ivan. I'm thinking if we both stay on the street our kids will be seeing a lot of each other, so that is fun. The other neighbor lives a few blocks away, but is Myka's mom. I used to keep Myka before my energies were sapped with the growth of my pregnant belly and a rambunctious little toddler named Ivan! Jenni was having complications from pre-clampsia, which she also had with Myka. Myka was born at 29 weeks weighing in at only 1 1/2 lbs. Her sister is a little heavy weight compared to her at 3lbs 6oz and 33 weeks along. She is gorgeous. Pray she will grow well and strong and healthy. After seeing little Alyx in the hospital nursery, I came out and saw Dominique who then looked like a giant. But then again, when I see pictures of myself with friends, I often come off looking like a giant. I often forget how tall and big I am until I see a picture of me with a short friend. I don't know why this always shocks me. We are so thankful our children are so healthy, strong, smart and beautiful. Babies are born everyday sickly or with some developmental problem. It makes us realize how fortunate we are. I know that often people who give birth to a child with a difficulty wonder "why them". We face the same question as we look at our children in awe and wonder. Why are we so fortunate? And all we can do is give thanks.

A new star is born!

Dominique lights up your screen with her new moves, brought to you by cheap entertainment. "have kids? we will video and photograph at nauseum." Welcome to the digital era.


Questions: did your family take lots of pictures? did your family have a video camera or machine? did you make home-made videos or plays? do you put pictures in an album or box? I'll answer in comments.

Purple eyes

Dad said that when I was a baby my eyes were purple for a time during their mutation from blue to brown. Whenever they tried to get a picture, it just came out red. Well, Dominique has blue eyes, but this picture came out all red and one could imagine they were purple. Everyday I wonder if her eyes will stay the same color or change. There is a chance they could stay blue. Brown eyes are dominant, which I have, but I know I carry green/blue from dad and mom has a blue recessive gene, plus there are blue eyes on Brian's side. They say all newborns have blue eyes, but Ivan's weren't. They were just dark. Then they were khaki green, then turned dark brown, which is very becoming on him. I always wanted blue eyes, of course purple would have been way cool! I once met a girl with two different colored eyes. I was confused by this and apparently so was she, because when I asked her what color her eyes were she said she didn't know, that they were always changing! I told mom about her and she confirmed that this is possible, that some people's eye color doesn't stabilize until they are adults. Freaky huh? I have always been fascinated by biology. I've even considered finding biology books at the library to read for fun. (I know, pretty weird). Maybe it's because I'm a mix of so many different backgrounds and I find it fun to find out what traits came from who. The possibilities are so vaste. We assumed our children would look like me since curly hair, dark skin and brown eyes are dominant, but so far our kids have pretty much straight hair, pale skin and brown and blue eyes. So really the sky's the limit. Sometimes it looks like Dominique even has blond highlights (as seen in this picture) and Ivan's hair reflects blond and red in the sun. So much fun ;)

What color are your eyes and have you ever wanted another color?

like an angel?

I remember spending time as a child gazing into my sleeping brother's face and thinking he looked like such an angel. Children look so peaceful as they sleep. But it's not always that way. So in all fairness and to keep this blog honest, we post the other side of Dominique...




Ivan has been imitating Dominique's noises and cries, so that has made it doubly fun. However, he is also learning to rock and say, "shh, shh, shh". It's funny because Dominique makes the same noises that Ivan did to show that she is hungry. They must have gone to the same in womb language school. The first time I heard that familiar "uh, uh, uh" cry like Ivan did, only now from Dominique, I knew exactly what she wanted.

Time is ticking away

I finished Dominique's clock some time ago and figured it was time to do the traditional baby and clock picture. I pulled up Ivan's picture while I was at it and am still amazed by the strong family resemblance with Dominique although they are starting to have some differences. Ivan was such a serious baby, which is funny because now he laughs and sings and is very easy going, but it took him a long time to lose his grump look. Dominique, on the other hand, has been smiling since day 1!

On the clocks, I paint the baby's name and place of birth. On the clock face, I paint clock hands pointing to the time of birth, and on the hands, I put the date of birth. Are you lost yet?

I'm looking forward to making and painting my first ever niece or nephew clock some time this fall ;) I'll be coordinating with John and Jenn on that design! yipee!

getting out

We're starting to get back into a bit of a routine maybe. I'm amazed how different everything is when having a second child. I guess I hadn't thought through all the implications, not that I would have it any other way, but it is way harder doing anything with two of them. A friend with 4 told me it gets easier with more, I'm not sure if she was fibing, exagerating, delirious or serious. Actually I do think it will be great when they are older, but these first few months seem to be proving a little challenging. We just have to try to stay ahead of Ivan. Like... lock the fridge BEFORE eggs are broken. Stop him from charging into the room BEFORE he wakes Dominique. Get him entertained with something BEFORE he reaches total meltdown.

It helps having friends and a supportive partner. Brian cleaned the house and did all the laundry while I took the two (with a friend) to see Miss Mary. We used to go all the time and take Ivan and Mary on a walk. It's too hot still and I don't yet have the ok to do exercise from the DR. so we just hung out in the shade today. Ivan had forgotten what it was like to be a celebrity at the nursing home and was a little shy. Dominique was an instant hit. Grandma Wynetta fed us lunch when we got home, then the two little ones concked out for a couple of hours. OK, so maybe this parenting thing IS a piece of cake! It just depends on the moment.

baby dimensions

I love how babies are so small. I tried to get some pictures showing how small Dominique's hands and feet are. The hands are hard to show since newborns like to curl up their fingers into little fists, but you can see her feet pretty good. And in the way of newborns, Dominique is not what you would call small. A friend of mine just had a 6 lbs baby and when I saw her, I couldn't believe how small that baby was, like 1/3rd less than Dominique!


I'll never forget a study in a psychology book that showed how we are affected just by the shape of a baby. In the study and text book, they showed four body types, 4 silhouettes, all the same size, all black outlines. One was a baby shape, another a preteen's dimensions and the others adult figures. They asked people which body they wanted to cuddle and nurture. The study showed that there is something about that round body and oversized head that makes us just want to hold and cuddle and protect the infant. People were not as drawn to the preteen image or the adult. As we still have friends and visitors come to congratulate us and see the baby, they all want to hold her, which is good since she loves being held.


Other studies have shown that if an infant receives sufficient food, diapering, medical treatment... but no touch, they will start to shut down, become ill and possibly die. So I guess it's a good thing that babies have so much hold appeal, we need it and they need it too.