Rejection Sucks

Well, it happened. We had some friends bring us dinner tonight, and while they were here Jonny asked me how things were, if I was getting sleep, how Lynnell was doing and how the baby was doing. The first question had a pause after it, and I immediately started to answer. Then he rapidly asked the rest of the questions and it was then that I picked up on the fact that he had read my last post and just wanted to poke fun at me. Funny, Jonny ... funny.

So last night Izzie and I were sitting on the couch after we both had dinner (Well, I had dinner. Izzie had her usual.... milkshake...without the shake... I guess) playing. I call it playing, but really it's me propping her up in front of me and trying to capture her attention. I do ridiculous things like make motor boat noises, sing songs that don't exist (I learned that from my dad), tugging on her arms (no, not hard) and all sorts of other corny things that only a parent can get away with. It's frustrating because she either stares at my shoulder, the light next to me or somewhere other than my face. I don't get it. But when mommy does it, she likes it. Sure, I occasionally get a smile, but It never really seems like she pays much attention.


Then I put her to bed. Later (like 20 minutes) I went in to check on her, and both of her arms were up above her head (or at least as close as they get). Only after I went to bed did I realize that I was doing the same thing. I couldn't believe it. My daughter sleeps with her arms above her head just like I do. Is that even possible? Is this some sort of inherited phenomenon? I like to rub my feet, and my dad does too. Did I get that from him? It's weird. Luckily (not really luckily...it's more like OCD) I was able to get a picture of it without realizing what I was capturing.


Today I get home from work, and Izzie had just finished eating. So I took her to burp her and get some good face time. She turned her head again and stared at the light. What's with that. How can a light be more entertaining than a corny dad? So I busted out the Happy Hippo play thingy (yeah, real technical I know) we got from the baby shower and laid her on it. She didn't care about the colorful bouncy noisy things hanging above her face or her dad making stupid noises. She was only concerned about mom on her left side. So I gave up (something I shouldn't make a habit of) and got the camera to capture my moment of rejection.


I'll figure it out. If I remember my Psych 101 class from college correctly, baby's are initially attached to their mothers for some time because of the bond and innate relationship they share from the whole pregnancy thing (plus there's the whole "you have my food" thing). Then (and this is especially true for girls...if I remember correctly) the baby begins to identify with the other parent more. Then they go through another stage where girls are drawn and bond more closely with their fathers (boys with their mothers) based on a gender attraction thing. Children can actually become jealous of the time mommy and daddy spend together (girls jealous of mommy and boys jealous of daddy). Maybe I just have to wait for these periods to kick in before I become super dad and get to capture her attention more. Hopefully it happens sooner though.