Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Thought

A little different topic here:

I had this thought this morning in the shower. I was wondering about the different religions that people have had, the belief structures and more importantly, the objects of their belief. (Reading "Pyramids", another pratchett novel.)

That got me thinking about God, the modern Judaeo/Christian God, and how we conceive of Him as having made us in His image. Or we think of ourselves as being made in His image.

Spent a while lost in that thought, and then I started pulling that one apart and wondering about the differences between God and man.

The leading characteristic of us I had been struck with through this whole thought process was our need or at least compunction to believe in something. And I got stuck on this: Belief is one of the most basic characteristics of people. Even the most devout atheists are firmly married to their belief in logic, reason, and the validity of their sensory experiences. How is that any different from believing a giant dung beetle is pushing the sun across the sky?

Which brought me around to the question, if we are made in God's image, and we so fervently Believe in stuff, what does God believe in?

Got me for a while.

Then I thought, it's Us.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Monday morning

I just re-read the first line of my last post. I'm going to claim sleep deprevation.

Which is getting to be less of an issue now. (Knock on a forest.) It's a combination of adjusting to less sleep, a wife who generously takes the 12 to 5 or 6 shift, and a baby that is sleepig for slightly longer stretches.

And she's getting to be more fun. Almost a full hour of playing with her, making her smile or just stare in random directions without crying; diaper changes that have her grinning and pumping her little frog legs, bath time when her hair sticks to her head, she sticks her little tongue out in a thoughtful manner, and looks adorable; just plain cuteness that comes with extra baby-fat.

Finding time to spend with my partner is now the leading project. It's hard to even hug without having the child between us, and I don't foresee a time in the next few months when we'll sleep through the night alone in our bed. SIDS is far more prevalent in the States, and there are some leading theories that this is because of our practice of having babies sleep by themselves before they're ready. The theory (pretty widely proven) is that baby's learn much of their basic bodily functions by mimicing what their mother does: breathing being the most important. If they're sleeping in contact with something that is taking breathes regularly, they're far less likely to stop (breathing).

So the theory goes, and we're not taking any chances.

Pair that with my renewed energy for my building project, driven by the deadline of the end of this year, turning the corner to creating instead of ripping and throwing out, and a general desire to untie ourselves from this particulat location, and quiet time spent curled up with my wife hasn't been happening nearly enough.

I've got some posts I'm planning for a late night when Annaliese is awake but not crying. Disertations on being a father, cloth diapers, natural childbirth and midewives, and general thoughts on my experiences over the past few months. I don't know if they'll ever get writtten, but here's to giving myself some external pressure.

Monday, February 4, 2008

More of my daughter

My inlaws have a strange propensity to assign immense import to possessions, particularly pieces of clothing, that have been around for a while. There was the case of something very important from the family history that Alexe was meant to wear on our wedding day. The various important baby things that Annaliese will be wearing at her Virginia christening. (Who knows what she'll be wearing at her Vermont christening.)

I generally believe these sorts of traits can skip generations, and thank my stars that my wife has only shown this sort of attachment to a tank-top she had in high-school, and possibly one of her mother's sweaters.

Then I walked into the living room today, and came upon my darling wife, and my darling daughter, holding a photoshoot. Annaliese was wearing this little number that apparently both Alexe and Eliza wore when they had their pictures taken on their one month old anniversary. Or is that one month old birthday? Anyway, it was actually only her four week old aniversary, and though I haven't broached this topic with Alexe, I'm pretty sure this should be celebrated on on the 6th to be accurate.

Anyway, enjoy. This is my family. (The pooches are lurking somewhere.)