The Staring Game

Tonight, Lee and I spent some time on the couch, playing with Cori, who is now 7 weeks old or so. Each of us independently realized the other was trying to stare into Cori's eyes.

Depending on their mood, most infants avoid this. Off the cuff, I'll guess that alpha apes don't like being stared at by baby apes, since survival manuals tell you not to stare directly at animals. Apparently, it's a challenge to their authority...

So Cori swung her gaze back and forth, trying not to look directly at us. If either of us blocked her escape in any given head position, she would swivel her head and try to avoid us that way.

We still caught her, of course. Then we laughed about it, and Lee said she had forgotten how Alex did that, until just now, and that I should write it somewhere.