Hear Lana Cry, See Rico Run

For almost eight years, Rico enjoyed being the baby in the family. The arrival of an actual baby caught Rico by surprise, as he was totally oblivious to the pregnancy preparations or the huge protrusion in my belly. Fortunately, Rico has adjusted reasonably well. As expected, he is a little wary and a lot jealous of our new, noisy addition to the family.

The main surprise has been Rico’s reaction to Lana’s cries. He absolutely hates to hear her cry and looks to us to fix her the second she begins to fuss. Whether he does this out of concern for Lana’s well-being or just for his own eardrums I can’t be sure, but he’s more effective than the baby monitor at letting us know when Lana is crying.

This sounds like a helpful response and, in some cases, it actually is. When I am taking a shower and Rico darts into the bathroom, I know that Lana is awake and unhappy. It is less helpful, however, when I am in the same room as our screaming baby and have a dog crawling up my leg to let me know the baby is upset. In these instances, I would have to be blind and deaf not to notice she is crying, and even then I would probably feel the vibrations of her screams coming off the walls.

During Lana’s more major outbursts, Rico sounds the alert and then heads for shelter under a chair or table. He reminds me of those Cold War era videos in which school children are instructed to climb under their desks in response to a nuclear attack. It must feel comforting to be under a hard surface, but deep down even Rico knows there is no escape.