Elsa is just over nine months old. So it makes us proud as punch that she’s already mastered dozens of words and can summon most of them without any prompts from us.

Over the weekend, Squish attempted her first four-syllable word: avocado. It still needs some practice, but her effort was very impressive.

Animals — and animal noises — are Elsa’s forte. When Angie and I took her to the zoo yesterday, we spent as much time observing our baby as we did observing the animals, and we were not disappointed. I’ve never seen Elsa more excited!

So engrossed am I with my little girl that I sometimes wonder if other parents experience similar levels of obsession with their babies.

To put this in other words, Angie and I think Elsa is the cutest kid in the world — but we are well aware that every other mother and father out there thinks the same about their child.

After all, we were designed to.

Survival Mechanism

Adults were designed to think babies are cute. And babies are designed to be cute. It’s a scientific fact.

Don’t ask me — ask the Austrian scientist Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989) who proposed the concept known as kindchenschema.

Kindchenschema is a German word that translates as “baby schema”. Simply, Lorenz observed that babies have features that are naturally designed to appear cute and appealing to adults — including their large eyes, chubby cheeks, small noses, protruding foreheads, round faces and soft skin. This, of course, extends to their cooing, giggling, and cute attempts at pronouncing words, as in the case of Elsa.

Lorenz suggested that a baby’s cute features trigger a nurturing response in adults, encouraging them to care for and protect them. Research has confirmed Lorenz’s theory many times over in the decades since.

According to one article on this topic,

“Studies as recent as 2016 indicate that when human adults see adorable traits in human babies, they express positive emotions that include love, tenderness, protectiveness, improved social relations, pleasure, decreased aggression, and increased empathy and compassion.”

Fatherly Design

In our increasingly secular world, sadly, evolution often gets the credit for kindchenschema. It’s said to be an evolutionary trait ensuring babies receive the attention and protection needed for their survival.

I beg to differ. Our Creator is the one who deserves the credit for this brilliant design. It makes sense that God would build features into humanity that help us better love and relate to each other since He is an infinitely loving and relational being.

(And if invoking God sounds unscientific, consider that Johann Kepler (1571–1630), who founded Celestial Mechanics and Physical Astronomy, practising science is simply “to think God’s thoughts after Him.”)

As adoptive parents, we are not at any kind of disadvantage when it comes to Elsa’s kindchenschema. She is as cute to us as if she were our own biological offspring. And her grandparents and extended family feel exactly the same way.

My only concern about Squish’s kindchenschema is that it will eventually run out. One day she’ll be all grown up and finding her own place in the world. I’ll love her just as much, but the chubby cheeks, the two-toothed grin and her adorable attempts at pronouncing new words will be gone.

In the meantime, it is my goal to appreciate her cuteness as much as possible.

The rest of the world might think I’m obsessed, but I’ll just tell them it’s science.

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Image courtesy of Unsplash.