My wife thinks I’m a bit of a nut, but I can’t help but analyze everything to death. I spend a great deal of time with my baby boy, and while I revel in the experience, there’s a little piece of me deep down that seems to just observe and ponder. While some might find this distracting, it’s provided me with some of the most amazing moments!
When Dashiell was about two months old, I watched him think for the first time! I had him laying on the bed next to me when I noticed him holding up his hand in front of his face. It caught my attention, as his ability to specifically focus on objects was just emerging, so seeing him actually look at his own hand was a pretty wonderful first in its own right. As I watched, he shakily turned the hand back and forth while he looked it over. As his thumb came to be pointed toward his face, his eyes opened wide, and he immediately shoved that thumb directly into his mouth, and sucked on it! That was a bit of a shock, as we had never seen him suck his thumb previously, and had specifically commented on it(another first!).
It wasn’t until after that shock had worn off that my internal observer did the math, and I realized that I had watched him carry out possibly his first ever complex thought process. He observed an object, correlated it with a need he wanted to fulfill, and he implemented a plan to test his theory! I was utterly dumbfounded.
Here’s hoping I’m not just another dopey parent seeing what he wants to see!
