Swaying in the Wind

Swaying is a technique that anyone who has held a baby is well aware of. It's a natural soothing technique that works on all babies, which is why all people know about it. I hate to pull the parent card out, but us parents are far more aware of just how much we sway. We sway to get them to sleep. We sway to get them quiet. We sway to keep them quiet. And we even sway to have some fun. Most of the time we sway WITH them. But some of the time, we even sway WITHOUT them.

I've seen other parents sway when people are holding their baby, but I don't think I've ever done it myself without holding Kaylani (or another baby). When you're in the presence of a baby, there's some external force that just makes you sway. And that part I understand because it really is a natural instinct to sway when you see a baby. But the other day, I found myself swaying without Kaylani (or any baby) being anywhere near me.

I was checking in for my doctor's appointment and the nurse told me to give her a few minutes to finish something up. I of course said no problem, and took out my Blackberry to kill some time. After about 2 minutes, I realized that I was swaying side to side. I have no idea if I just started or if I was doing the entire time, but there I was doing the baby sway...with no baby. It's like I was soothing my Blackberry (or perhaps myself).

Perhaps Mommy was home swaying Kaylani at that exact moment and our bond is so strong that I was swaying with her. But unfortunately Mommy was actually on her way to exercise class, so unless she was swaying in the car, it's unlikely that our bond is THAT strong. Well I think the latest statistic is that a baby is born every 8 seconds, so it's likely that I was swaying along with some baby. But my guess is that Kaylani was dreaming about swaying and that's why I was doing it. Or maybe I'm just a little weird. Hard to say.

Anyways, we're at the end of week 17, and only 2 days away from Kaylani's 4 month birthday! So to get the weekend started, check out these pictures from the last few days. They include Kaylani's first time in her high chair and her jumparoo (thanks again Danika!), and our first pictures as a family that I took using my new wireless camera remote (which was one of my rewards for being so healthy over the last month. I highly recommend getting one for any Canon EOS owners). And don't forget to come back tomorrow for some videos of Kaylani in her jumparoo (and a great one with Mommy too)!

Paternal instinct or crazy?

Last night, Kaylani slept in her room. She slept in her crib. Most importantly, she slept alone. Its been 10 days, and she slept alone, in her room, in her crib. And I'm not talking about for a few minutes either. She stayed there for 3 hours, woke up to eat, slept for 2 hours, and then did that again. It was AWESOME! I know some kids who are way older than her that have never done that before!

Now you would think that all of that means I got a great night sleep. And its true, I did get some good sleep, but it wasn't a great night. After about an hour, I kept "hearing" her cry. Thinking that our monitor wasn't working, I kept getting up and moving closer to her room everytime I "heard" her. The first 6 times I checked, she wasn't crying, but that 7th time, I was right! So is it paternal instinct, or I am just a little bit crazy?

Now the argument towards crazy is an easy one to make (it always has been when it comes to me), but don't you think there is such a thing as paternal instinct? I do. I don't believe that her actually crying on the 7th time was simply because it had been 2 hours and it was time for her to wake up. I don't believe that I made so much noise creeping towards and opening her door that she woke up. I truly believe that I've developed paternal instincts.

I can't wait to see what other senses I'll develop! I hope its something cool like invisibility. I have heard some dads talk about how their kids don't even know they're there. They also say their kids don't even hear them when they talk, so maybe that's another developed sense. Either way, must be cool to have these "new" senses...right?

Speaking of cool, new pictures are posted. No paternal instincts required to view.