What's going through your head?

I've always been a person who is comforted by rationality. That's just me. I reason things out in my head. I plan things to smallest detail so that I know how they will go when they actually happen. I'm good at a lot of things because of that character trait. I think things through and they turn out pretty well. It's helped me in my job and in my hobbies. It's been valuable in a lot of situations for me, but do you know what that doesn't work on?

...

Children.

Children are the ultimate example of irrationality.

My wife makes fun of me for trying to reason with our two month old. She doesn't understand the words coming out of my mouth, but that doesn't stop me from trying to talk her through it.

"Don't worry, we're not going to let you starve to death."

"You are upset because you are tired. Do you know what will fix that? Just go to sleep."

"Do you think screaming is really going to help this situation?"

(Those are all things I have actually said...to a two month old.)

I know that talking to a baby like she can understand and reason like I do doesn't make a ton of sense. I know that she can't comprehend what I'm saying, so it's not like I am really trying to reason with her.

This is a person who, one time, pooped in her diaper, reached around with her hand and grabbed some of it and smeared it on my chest. I still love her, but it's not a rational human being we are dealing with. I know that but I still look down into those eyes sometimes and wonder "What are you thinking?".

There is a flipside to that coin, however. This little baby can be amused by the smallest, most insignificant things. She will stare in wonder at a lightbulb like I might look at picture of a beautiful landscape. She will smile the biggest smile and laugh at things like her lips being lightly squeezed between your finger and thumb. She will smile at just my face when she first sees me in the morning. None of that makes any rational sense (well, maybe looking at my face; I am pretty good looking), but she is delighted by the smallest things sometimes.

It's not all bad, but it's definitely irrational and I have asked more in the last two months than maybe my entire life combined, "What's going through your head?"