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ex machina

the eric update - day 476: peekaboo!

surely someone somewhere must have authored a dissertation investigating the origins of the nearly universal appeal of the game of peekaboo. i suppose it has something to do with an infant developing a newfound appreciation for the concept of object permanence.

probably not surprisingly there seems to be different opinions as to when an infant expresses an interest in playing the game themselves - with various sites claiming that an infant will enjoy hiding him or herself anywhere from six to thirteen months.

so i suppose since he's recently celebrated his 1 year age adjusted birthday then we won't get too concerned about the fact that he's only just begun to find it amusing to hide his face when we exclaim, "where's odin?!"

or maybe he's cleverly figured out the fastest way to get us to stop insisting that he play the silly game :-)

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10/23/2005 10:38:00 PM 2 comments

2 Comments:

I think that work has been done by both Freud and Lacan - Freud discusses this as the game "forte/da" and indicates the beginning of individuation - when someone disappears they return and of course a whole bunch of horrible psychological scarring occurs when 'the other' doesn't return as expected. Lacan discusses this also in many ways but the most well known is "the mirror stage," prior to this stage a child doesn't have a concept of self and believes her/himself to be a part of everyone - the ability to recognize an image in a mirror or disappear and reappear indicates a recognition of an individual self separate from others. Did you really want this information probably not...and I'm just procrastinating from the work at hand - my own dissertation.

By Anonymous, at 2:24 PM

gah! I thought I'd missed a few steps while looking away or more accurately, just not paying close attention (and this, my friend is exactly how his childhood will be for you, the when did he start doing THAT?s, the incessant humming of Sunrise, Sunset [trust me on this one, been there].

YAY! Peek-a-boo is a fabulous time-extending game and it sure beats the idea I'd formulated when I looked at the picture which is to say I thought Odin'd learned to completely dress himself, just getting his arms into the right holes of that gorgeous sweater!

You betcha. Standing in lines, waiting in traffic, waiting waiting waiting - such a hard thing for peewees to do. Okay, hard for this grownup to do also. Think of all the variations you can keep him entertained with until the food lands on the table, cool enough to eat.

Yup, gotta love that game.

Please refrain from teaching himself to mix n' match his wardrobe for a few more weeks. I'm not ready.

By mcbeth, at 12:26 PM

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[ rhetoric ]

“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”

the complete tales & poems of winnie the pooh

[ about ]

this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.

he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.

if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.

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