My first hummer

Don't let the shameful ploy of the priapic title shock or disgust you. I am burdened with the self-imposed mandate to create as many tongue-in-cheek or metaphoric blog subjects as I can. No, this one is not about anything sordid or unsavory. It's about my first born daughter.

When Sydney was born nine years ago, the doctor and nurses, after performing all post-birth tests, took special interest in monitoring her breathing. While her color was good and Apgar high, they claimed that she had some atypical breath sounds on exhalation. In retrospect, we feel that the nurses were bored and wanted something to do. What stinks is that they took Sydney to the nursery for observation without even letting Lori hold her. Not in an urgent way, but with that patronizing "we're just gonna check things out" tone. They called the condition, if you feel like escalating it to something of that stature, "singing."

Well, the thought occurred to me the other day that Sydney continues to experience the condition to this day. While I was eating lunch with her, I heard a low tune coming from her and realized that while she eats, reads, swims...whatever...Sydney is inclined to hum. She unconsciously hums some little tune almost constantly. It seems to be a way to keep herself company. It made me wonder if this self-comforting humming began literally moments after birth. I'm not sure if that's far-fetched. Syd has always had phenomenal emotional control and self awareness. I just find the potential idea that she came to terms with her new surroundings by humming a little tune that early in life fascinating.

Frankly, there isn't much about that girl that doesn't astound me at some moment. Watching her grow and mature is a pleasure. Most of the time, nothing seems to faze her. She is perpetually happy and just keeps humming along.