Exposure to infants

Yesterday I got to hold a baby! More precisely, I got to hold Wendy's baby since we left the lab at around the same time and her husband came to pick her up and the baby was in the car. (And they are of the opinion that I'm of the age where I should have handled a baby at least once, or something.) He was very warm, and probably would be cuddly if he weren't moving around so much. I spent the first few moments torn between the terror of accidentally dropping the baby (the horror the horror) and the terror of accidentally breaking the baby, given that I wasn't entirely sure where / how hard I should grip to prevent the baby from escaping while he was flailing around. (Babies are fragile, and therefore terrifying.)

Then there's the bit where he was making faces and noises at me and I was trying very hard to figure out if the scrunched up face meant that he was uncomfortable or sleepy or about to spit on me or what (currently: still uncertain to the best of my knowlege). He's at the pre-teething chewing stage though, and made me very glad that I washed my hands before leaving lab because -- potential lab chemical -- baby-- no.

In conclusion: terrifying, confusing, very squirmy. (But cute. He's definitely at the cute stage now.)


[edit 9:16am]
Saw this over at Annie's LJ. To quote / summarize:

I want to do my part not only for the “It’s Get Better” initiative, but to bring to light that bullying in any form is despicable and sickening, especially against those teens who are trying to come to terms with their sexual orientation in some places where being gay, unique and wonderfully eccentric is frowned upon and thought evil.

For every comment left here, I will donate a dollar a comment up to $500.