Contrary to any potentially logical explanation, my fear of holding babies had nothing to do with dropping them. I was more afraid of a perfectly calm child being handed to me and deciding to go into his or her freak out state. My theory is that babies are an excellent judge of character, yet lack knowledge of social norms. So if a baby is handed to me and starts crying, I would assume that the baby has some sixth sense that I’m not a good person. This is why I have historically avoided holding babies.

Yesterday, we went to the zoo with our friends Jeff and Yeva, and their daughter Annika. I love babies, so I was happy to talk to Annika, point out animals, let her try to grab my sunglasses, etc. But it took some time, and some courage, for me to finally hold her. Annika didn’t freak out, which is great. And now she and Mr. Spoon (also pictured) are my new best friends.