Meeting Mallory

My cousin recently gave birth to a baby girl. I went to see her for the first time today.

Babies are fascinating, unreal things. To look at one and understand that you were once like this raises some very interesting questions about consciousness and the continuity of self. How did I perceive the world when I was just born? How is my current self related to that previous one? What if we could remember just what it felt like to be so young? Maybe we don’t because we didn’t think in a way that can form that kind of memory. Or maybe we’d realize that we had the secret of life and don’t need to keep looking any more.

According to some online literature, this is what Mallory can do right now. This seems pretty accurate.

The First Month

• Can lift head momentarily
• Turns head from side to side when lying on back
• Hands stay clenched
• Strong grasp reflex present
• Looks and follows object moving in front of them in range of 45 degrees
• Sees black and white patterns
• Quiets when a voice is heard
• Cries to express displeasure
• Makes throaty sounds
• Looks intently at parents when they talk to him/her