Now that I’m feeling more confident in my role as parent to a bread baby, it’s time to analyze the two babies and their past 18 days of life. It’s been a long process, and if you are following this, I feel that I own you a little synopsis.
Back in the day when I was a parental failure and my baby was dying, the way that I could tell my child was suffering was that the liquid would rise to the top of the mixture in a slimy wet layer. This time around, however, the liquid is absorbed into the mixture. The top gets all frothy and bubbly which is good and also very different from having puddles of liquid sitting on top.
Another clue that it is now doing well is that there are air bubbles all the way through the mixture. Yesterday they were tiny bubbles because the baby was still young, but this morning when I came downstairs I could immediately see that the bubbles were getting larger and more numerous.
Also, I can see the mark on the jar that indicates that the baby rose up and then fell back. In other words, as it ate the flour and water it became more active and bubbly, and now it’s shrinking back—the classic sign of hunger. It’s soon time for it’s breakfast.
Bread baby bubbles are beautiful and beneficial. (There’s a tongue twister for you.) They signify eating: chewing, swallowing, and burping. It’s what babies do, though I hope if you have a human baby it is not filled with as many bubbles as my bread baby. That would be rather unfortunate.
I will wait another day or two to bake (if I can stand it), just to make sure the baby is really strong.
Now I have a dilemma: What to do with Baby Number Two? I certainly don't need another baby anymore. Chucking it seems cruel, but I think it just may be fated for the garbage.
No comments:
Post a Comment