It must be weird being a baby.

The thought occurred to me the other day when I was walking with my mom and we passed by a baby in a stroller (and his mom, he wasn't just sitting there). The moment we walked by him, my mom started cooing and making faces at him, just like anyone would do. The baby smiled, but I think he was just being a diva who is used to all the attention.

Think about it.

Babies get carried around everywhere, either in a stroller or in litttle pouches on a parent's stomach (that has to be super awkward. I know I couldn't do it...be in the baby's position i mean) so they basically see the world pass them by without doing anything. And they are instant stars. It doesn't matter where they are whisked off to: the grocery store, the park, church, the overcrowded trains... they always manage to be the center of attention. People stare, coo, make faces, make all kinds of gestures, point and whisper... All they have to do is react. Most of the time they laugh, but sometimes they look away (in which case the adult goes "aww! i scared him!!" in a little voice, laughing) or the extreme divas start crying (in which case the adult usually looks away and pretends nothing happened).

It has to be annoying, not being able to go anywhere without getting all that attention. Pretty soon they're going to start ignoring us big people who walk on our own. Actually, that's what todlers do. I think babies are actually smarter than we are: they know how much fun we have "entertaining" them so they react to make us happy. But in fact they are really annoyed at us. I mean it's a theory, and it kept me busy on the train.

I also wonder what it feels like to be a pigeon...