Symbiosis

In utero, the baby is more of a parasite, as defined in biology:

An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.

Now out and about for 4 months, our relationship has become more symbiotic. Our lives are intertwined in a curious dance, linked by our separate but closely related needs.

Take nutrition, for example. I have to eat not least to make milk these days, but rue the day I eat red cabbage, dairy, or any of the other foods that set off Freya's GI tract! The payback is immediate and vehement, her body arching in pain, accompanied by jags of crying, bursts of flatulence and foul diapers.

Closely related to that phenomenon is the whole matter of sleep. She needs to sleep but is just getting the hang of wanting comfort and attention more than rest, setting of a merry spiral of crying (she), comforting (we), thumbsucking (she), rocking her (we), flailing about (she), hair pulling (all), and bottle/boob deployment (we). Finally she tires out and goes back to sleep, while Steve and I debrief about how to do it better next time -- assuming we can remember at 3 a.m...