The Great Cake* Experiment

Out with the old…

… and yes, I’m going to finish the phrase, “and in with the new”. This week has  proved one of those milestones in life. A proper caesura between the old and new.

On Wednesday my daughter was born.

I’m not sure I quite have the words -  even for the Great Cake Experiment - to describe quite the profundity of what has happened. A tiny life has arrived, perfect and beautiful. And it’s my responsibility to love and cherish it. There isn’t really an instruction book for this. Trust me, I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on to prepare myself for the inevitability of parenthood. Forewarned, forearmed and all that.

But all of a sudden I’m faced with a completely new challenge. My baby’s needs are pretty simple and involve food, bowel movements, warmth and cuddles. I could handle that, if only I could understand the language with which she’s asking for them. For a woman with a working knowledge of a number of European languages (including a 14th C dialect from the Dalmatian coast of Croatia) the semiotic code of my daughter’s creation is utterly mystifying. From a gaze of contentment to the most mind-blowing howls, both make me weep. One with joy, the other with bafflement. What caused these physical utterances? In the case of the howls, how can I make them go away and bring back the gaze of contentment?!

So it is out with the old life of medieval manuscripts, books in Croatian or Italian and peer reviewed articles. And here is my new life and the most exilerating challenge.

My daughter.

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