babies are strange little aliens

we get all sorts of babies passing through work (often with mothers who are my age or younger, but that's a whole other can of worries). i happen to be greatly entertained by my power to stop impending temper tantrums by offering the cookieless young wailers a sticker -- because they immediately stop making noise and stare in surprise. you should try it sometime. but anyways...

one yesterday was getting all sorts of attention from everybody with no reaction whatsoever. i was busy doing something else and paid no heed. but when i did happen to look straight at the child, i said hello to it. it's rude not to. and the little thing gave me a very old Look for a few scary seconds, then not only slowly smiled, but began to actually gurgle. why do people's random children like me so much? i don't get it.

it's almost ironic, even, considering my reaction to strangers as a tot (and, okay, now...). i did not like people messing with me. apparently, according to my mother, i have had a killing look of disdain from a very young age and have never been afraid to use it to send people away feeling oddly discomfited. you are either my people, or you are not and should go away. immediately. (is it possibly intrinsic or did i indeed learn this somewhere at the ripe old age of nothing?) anyway, it's an odd little reconcile: i did not get along with people as a baby, but babies like me as a people. go figure.