What's That! A Baby's Journey of Discovery...

A few weeks back, my 1 year old son's flailing hand inadvertently bumped into his groin while his diaper was off. And he had just made one of the first major discovery about his own body! Since then, whenever his diaper is off, he wants to make sure that his treasure is still there and hasn't fallen off. You can almost see the relief on his face that mommy and daddy haven't taken that away too like they take away all other useful weapons such as knives and sharp pointed pencils. Occasionally, if he happens to be standing up with his diaper off, his visual curiosity gets the better of him, so he thrusts his hips forward, curves his back and gazes adoringly down between his legs at the.. umm.. acorn, as one very fascinated and sharp little girl once called it!

Ah, but this was only the beginning of the journey. Next in the list of his discoveries were those curious little round bumps on his chest. "Oooh, I can flick my fingers against them," he must have thought, "What a cool toy!" Now, the earlier relief in his eyes had been replaced by glee! For he could tell that these are not detachable, and so cannot be taken away. A keen discerning observer will often be able to spy this smart little one year old standing shirtless in the middle of the room, with both his hands upon his chest bumps, flicking his fingers against them gleefully. Er, I mean the baby's, not the observer's.

Now, I tried to tell my son, "Look here, sonny boy, a man doesn't do that to his own umm.. nipples. In fact, a man's nipples are probably the most useless thing God ever created, second only to appendix. Wait.. on second thoughts, an appendix can swell, rupture and even kill you. So, its not that useless after all, even though its only known use in humans may be unwelcome and undesirable. Thank God, nipples can't do that. Phew!!

This, however, raises an interesting genesis question. Lets reason this out, shall we? Science claims that a man's nipples are vestigial and serve no fathomable purpose in life. Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines vestige as: a bodily part or organ that is small and degenerate or imperfectly developed in comparison to one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past generation, or in closely related forms. Note the phrase "in an earlier stage of the individual". Finally, a popular theory of genesis of life proclaims that God made woman from the rib of a man. Well, there is the paradox. If a man's nipples are vestigial but a woman's are not (obviously), then isn't woman an earlier stage of humans? On the other hand, if man is an earlier stage of humanity than a woman as per this evolution theory, then why in the world did God ever give man nipples? Unless, God actually didn't create woman from a man's ribs, but from... umm, never mind... certain people's sensibilities might get offended by any further exploration of this subject.

Overheard at the Pediatrician

Here's a one sided snippet of a telephone conversation I overheard at the pediatrician's office few days back:

Receptionist: Who is the appointment for?
...
Receptionist: Oh, for you? Are you a child?
...
Receptionist: You're 16?
...
Receptionist: Yup. You are a child!!

I guess its tough to be a teenager. On the other hand, we also know some people who kept seeing their pediatrician until they were 25!! :-)