10/18/06 - mirror, mirror, on the wall

October 18, 2006 - Wednesday

10:52 AM - mirror, mirror, on the wall Having no pen and paper, I had to use my laptop to write this down quickly, as I didn't want to forget it. The three-month-old I started babysitting recently is in front of me, lying on this blanket/toy that plays music and has soft cross bars suspended over his head upon which hang rattles, squishy things, and toys that he can't yet grasp. There's a plastic mirror that's been part of this get-up that he's paid no attention to at all until twenty minutes ago--but then everything changed. From the moment I repositioned the mirror so it was near his face, he broke into a smile and started staring at himself. He has yet to look away from it. It's really mesmerizing to watch. I could go into how I hope for him that I can always be so pleased with his image, how I hope that in the future staring at himself many minutes on end won't mean he's being self-critical. But that would ruin the moment, and it's really not what I'm concerned with at all right now. Right now, I'm watching this squirmy baby watch himself, and he's the most delighted little nugged you've ever seen.