Sunday, May 5, 2013

First Child Syndrome

The other day my mom told me about an old saying, "Every old crow thinks hers is the blackest."

I had asked her if all parents think their child is adorable and brilliant, like I do Mary. At the moment Mary was playing with a dangling stuffed giraffe. Such dexterity! Such hand-eye coordination! I could sense her burgeoning IQ even as I watched.


You can't tell from the picture, but her movements were really quite nuanced.
Apparently an uncle told my mom the "crow" saying when she admiring her first baby. She was similarly convinced of his overwhelming cuteness. 

Yet even while I was pregnant I had difficulty believing that every single person in this world came from a woman that was pregnant. Surely it couldn't be that...common. I felt like I'd discovered this cool phenomenon other people must not know about. "Everybody!" I always felt like saying. "There's a miniature human being inside me RIGHT NOW and I can feel it MOVING!"

I've decided to call this First Child Syndrome. It also includes other features like copious picture-taking and obsessive binky sterilizing. 

Lesser known syndromes: 
Only Girl Syndrome--in which said only girl (er...ME) gets her own bedroom and bathroom, receives lax punishments, and is definitely her parents' favorite child,

 and, 

4th Child Syndrome--in which the parents clean off the pacifier by letting the dog lick it and routinely forget where they left they keys...and the baby (sorry Justin).

Yet as a first-time parent, I've decided to embrace the inevitable, and so have documented some additional moments of brilliance: 

Holding her own head up.
My little prodigy.

Following the baseball game (go Reds).
Extraordinary.

Helping me win Mouse Trap. Yes, I'm the yellow guy.
Side note: winning Mouse Trap is PURE skill.

My parental pride knows no bounds.

10 comments:

  1. Truly extraordinary. She blows my mind with her brilliance :)

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  2. Love it! She really must be a little genius. You might as well marvel at the miracle of it all!! She's mighty cute too!

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  3. Haha. Mary is a genius! I loved your commentary on being pregnant. I felt that same way too!

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  4. Just because all human beings are amazing, doesn't make your little human being any less so. Bask in the awesomeness. You've earned it. (Seriously. I'm about to go from the easy-to-take-care-of baby inside me stage, to the screaming baby who needs frequent nursing and diaper changes stage, so it does me good to hear that it's rewarding!)

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  5. Haha it's so true. We all think out kids are little prodigy's. Mary really might be though! She is a doll!

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  6. I’m Camber’s mom and I think I need to clarify Camber’s post and “clear” my name!!! First of all…baby Mary is absolutely ADORABLE and I am dying to pinch her chubby little rosy cheeks!! Secondly…let me briefly explain about the “crow” comment…since there’s been quite a bit lost in translation!! Camber has a crack-up uncle who grew up in the South. Well, when Camber’s oldest brother Trevor was about Mary’s age I said to him and my sister “isn’t he the cutest??” (he really was…super blonde with huge dimples)…and my brother-in-law shot back with the Southern comment “every crow thinks theirs is the blackest!!” Dang I was crushed and have never recovered from it!! When Camber (actually) said “Does every parent think their baby is the cutest??” I agreed and related that story to her! Doesn’t get cuter than Mary Cam!!

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  7. I agree with you about all of it!! Especially about being pregnant. I thought that all the time!! I remember the first time Spencer kicked I was at a mall and I wanted to stop everybody walking by to tell them! I loved every minute of it! And it seems to me that you do have a child genius on your hands! :)

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  8. Oh Camber, she is just beautiful! She's growing so fast! You are such a cute mommy!

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