I remember when I was pregnant with Omar, I would regularly (meaning once a week at most) do a long walk in the morning from my apartment to Albert Park and go around the lake. For the most part, I never felt too "pregnant" until the very last couple of weeks. But when I was trying to walk around the lake as confidently as possible while moms with their strollers, older ladies jogging, the couple walking their dog, and little kids running all pass me by, I felt quite pregnant. I remember one seeing a lady with her little teacup dog walk by and I thought, hey "baby" is probably around that size now. But while the dog can run on its little legs and bark at the ducks on the lake, "baby" could do little but sleep and turn, all protected in the womb. How helpless and weak humans are, I thought then.
Now as I watch "baby" all transformed from a squirming wriggling newborn to a clapping, running, climbing, trying-to-jump early toddler, I realize how wrong I was. We are helpless and weak, in the larger universal higher power scheme of things, but certainly superior to the teacup dog.
The ability to learn is possibly a human's greatest strength. (which is why artificial intelligence and "learning computers" are ever slightly so threatening)
Omar does not talk in the "talking" sense as yet. He says English or Malay words, but at random and not always when prompted ("yum" "Umi" "nenen"). But he understands so much more than he can say. The other day he climbed up my IKEA step ladder and showed Ikram a balled fist repeatedly-- trying to show he was upset about something. This morning when Ikram was leaving, he wouldn't let go of Ikram and whined as he watched Ikram put on his shoes and jacket. My mom said "Dia dah pandai" and indeed he is getting smarter. Learning from experience. When papa puts on his shoes and jacket early in the morning, it means he's going to be a little face on Umi's phone again.
My innocent little angel, who accidentally hit his head on the floor trying to throw his back against the sofa (and missing), then only five minutes after the crying and pain subsided, went back to the same sofa and did the exact same thing, looking at me straight in the eye as if to say "I'm not scared"
And while he is already amazing me with his daily demonstration of "growing up" and inevitably growing more complex, at barely 14 months old, he has so much more to absorb and experience from his complex surroundings, feeding into his inner complexity and allowing him to contribute into an ever complex world. And he too will grow up in the conventional sense of the word, have his own family and his own kids, and maybe one day be pondering the exact same thing I am pondering right now. Subhanallah.
Now as I watch "baby" all transformed from a squirming wriggling newborn to a clapping, running, climbing, trying-to-jump early toddler, I realize how wrong I was. We are helpless and weak, in the larger universal higher power scheme of things, but certainly superior to the teacup dog.
The ability to learn is possibly a human's greatest strength. (which is why artificial intelligence and "learning computers" are ever slightly so threatening)
Omar does not talk in the "talking" sense as yet. He says English or Malay words, but at random and not always when prompted ("yum" "Umi" "nenen"). But he understands so much more than he can say. The other day he climbed up my IKEA step ladder and showed Ikram a balled fist repeatedly-- trying to show he was upset about something. This morning when Ikram was leaving, he wouldn't let go of Ikram and whined as he watched Ikram put on his shoes and jacket. My mom said "Dia dah pandai" and indeed he is getting smarter. Learning from experience. When papa puts on his shoes and jacket early in the morning, it means he's going to be a little face on Umi's phone again.
My innocent little angel, who accidentally hit his head on the floor trying to throw his back against the sofa (and missing), then only five minutes after the crying and pain subsided, went back to the same sofa and did the exact same thing, looking at me straight in the eye as if to say "I'm not scared"
And while he is already amazing me with his daily demonstration of "growing up" and inevitably growing more complex, at barely 14 months old, he has so much more to absorb and experience from his complex surroundings, feeding into his inner complexity and allowing him to contribute into an ever complex world. And he too will grow up in the conventional sense of the word, have his own family and his own kids, and maybe one day be pondering the exact same thing I am pondering right now. Subhanallah.
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