Not just the penguins

I remember in the film, March of the Penguins, the narrator tells us that a mama penuin can distinguish the sound of her baby's cries amidst hundreds of baby penguins. Yes, this is amazing. No, I can't compete with a skill like that. I mean, would I be able to hone in on ANY sound with hundreds of babies crying? No. However, there seems to be something innate in our ability to recognize our own baby's cries.

Living in the family housing co-op has been a truly unique experience for us. We're surrounded by young families, which means neighbors are fairly tolerant to the many, MANY sounds two little boys can make on a daily basis. This also means that we hear the many sounds that other neighborhood babies are making on a daily basis. As a result, you learn fairly quickly how to distinguish the cries of your baby (or babies) from the sounds of the neighbor babies. (This has been a fun way to amaze visiting friends who are convinced they hear one of the boys crying.)

With two babies that sound an awful lot alike, my skills have been honed one step further. The vast majority of the time (yes, they can still fool me!), I can tell whether Dex or Jax has woken up from a nap or is in need of a crib rescue. Recently, however, this has gotten even easier. Jax has been growling for well over a month, now! It's the funniest thing! The boys have experimented with many sounds since they began vocalizing, and each new sound would be repeated for days until they moved onto a new one. Growling seems to be sticking, though, and I really don't mind! Jax makes an adorable little puppy dog and he certainly doesn't shed (or bite... that's Dex!). Besides, when my skills as a mama penguin fail and I'm left wondering which baby is which, I listen for a cute little growl and it all becomes clear.