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Primates

Kate has begun this touching/grooming behavior on me that is sweet and weird all at the same time. She gets herself cuddled up to me and then just gently touches me all over my head and arms and chest and back. It's somewhere inbetween how primates in the wild groom each other and how she might fondle a new baby doll she'd just been given.

I realize that I always did this touching/stroking behavior with my babies. Theo says I did it to him when we were dating and newly married. During rock-a-bye time each night I stroke the girls hair while they talk or rub their backs or arms. (Now I do a full brushing and joint compression protocol with Jane at the beginning of bedtime so she gets both.)

It's weird to have it done to me, though. It reminds me of the power of touch in human connection and bonding. It feels like she's "falling in love" with me--but obviously not in a romantic sense. And, I gotta say, it's very relaxing. She about puts me to sleep. It reminds me of that calm, sleepy feeling I'd get after breastfeeding when the body releases the bonding hormone--can't think of the name of it just now.

Never underestimate the power of the human body to affect the human mind.

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