Blink and you'll miss it!

As I was feeding Austin one of his many bottles this morning, I noticed something that kind of creeped me out a little... he wasn't blinking. Nope. Not once. Just staring straight up at me as he chugged away with his eyes wide open.

I also realized that it's probably the same thing that makes it a little creepy when peeking in on him late at night when he's swaddled in his bassinet and not yet asleep. Nothing gives you the chills like walking up to a bassinet in a dark room to check on a quiet sleeping baby, and all you see are the whites of his little eyes staring back at you.

So, after I made this blinking discovery this morning, I, of course, had to go check it out on the glorious Web. And the results, I'm pleased to announce, confirm that I am not raising an alien. Apparently it's perfectly normal for a baby to not blink that much.

According to a web site called The Register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/30/the_odd_body_blinking/):

"Babies blink less often than adults. In normal circumstances, newborns blink at the rate of less than two times per minute. In childhood, the blink rate rises. Thus, by about age 14, the blink rate rises to about 10 blinks per minute. In adulthood, the blink rate remains at about 10 to 15 times per minute."

Very interesting, I think! Funny, though, I never noticed this with Tyler.

So, with that educational bit of information for the day, I'm signing off now to check in one last time on the wide-eyed bundled non-blinking baby in the bassinet, and call it a night!