Good morning and Happy Easter, everyone. Rebecca and I have been enjoying a gentle morning with RM. This little guy has grown 'poof' and 'squish' all over himself. He's quite the squishy baby now. He's grown more snuggly, more chatty, more gripy, and more glowing. I'm almost three months into fatherhood and I really haven't learned a thing. At this age there is still so much more reaction than preemption, although RM seems to be settling into a better schedule.
I've been having quite a blast hanging out with him with what little time I've had. I work at least sixty hours weeks this time of year, so the time I spend with RM has a special quality for the short time I'm given each day to spend with him. You might say I get intense, but not to the point of actually gobbling up my child in one sitting. Our night routine is not consistent yet. He is
supposed to get a bath each night where he sits in his bumbo in the tub and I pour hot water over him. He loves it. He is
supposed to get a Bible story each night from the "Little Boys Bible Storybook" that was given to him by his godparents, John & Melinda. We figured he wasn't ready for the KJV-type stuff or RC Catechism just yet, so this is perfect. The one thing he is getting consistently from me each night is lullabies. I sing to him some of the old gospel stuff like "Stars in My Crown" and "Rock of Ages." I would sing Hank Sr. and John Prine. He will hear a sea shanty or two. I would also sing the old timey stuff like "Dixieland" and "Rose of Alabama," songs that every Southerner used to know. So we just go honky tonkin' together in the nursery, and it will knock him right out. I am really excited about exposing Matthew to plenty of music in a world that seems more obsessed with visual stimuli. Matthew always gets plenty of Pandora playing anything from Sufjan Stevens to Steely Dan.
I can see that Matthew is becoming quite the chatty little baby. Even when he is not squeeling and fussing in the morning, he is chatty in the early hours like his mother. I'm not exactly a morning person, so this development does not bode well for quiet mornings in my future. I do, however, try to foster his his talkative nature by asking him plenty of questions. I have this strange theory where I believe that the power of the interrogative is something ingrained in us biologically, and questions are perhaps recognizable even before we can understand them . Ancient humans living in the 00000's before Christ could not have evolved complex societies without the interrogative. The "question" places us in constant context in our relationship with others and the world around us. It gives us meaning. Human inquiry is one of the greatest of God's gifts. Its divine purpose, of course, is to ask the question of our existence and seek the face of God for answers. Coincidentally, it prompts us to action and to accumulate knowledge to satisfy an ever mounting load of human inquiry. "How can I more effectively kill a sabre toothed tiger at range without endangering myself? How can I get Mom and Dad to understand that I will never fall asleep again for the rest of my life? How can I send 12,000 tons of payload into low-earth orbit?"
So I think just babbling to babies is pointless unless you are babbling out pointless questions. Questions carry that subtle inflection, that hidden open-endedness that appeal to our primeval need for inquiry, and that answers can be had from our relationship with the world around us. I don't want Matthew to ever think that we have all the answers. That could only lead to disappointment... and disappointment leads to the Dark Side of the Force.
My busy season ends on April 17th. I'll be taking a few days off. I'm really looking forward to taking Matthew on hikes on Monte Sano. I'll roll him down to 1892 where I can enjoy a beer and he can meet Mike, Steve, Greg and all the other nice folks there. The ladies at Five Points Cleaners are dying to meet him. He can say hi to Roy and Mike over at the Star Market. Matthew can finally meet everyone at the office where we are all diligently working to put each other's kids into college. Matthew is just going to grow up to be a good ole boy.
