A friend of mine is about to have a baby. She has achieved full hippodom, and spends her time looking at scan photographs (of the non-gender revelatory kind), nest-building and having Braxton Hiccoughs or something. I asked her recently when the Grand Opening was, and pointed out that whichever sex her child was to be she would be absolutely dilated with the result. I cannot stress earnestly enough how bad an idea it is to make such jokes to a heavily gravid woman. It is not so much a case of 'some falling on stony ground' as the stones being collected, off the aforementioned ground, and hurled back at you with deadly intent.Whilst pondering these mysteries, (not simply sulking and staring out of the window, as The Girlfriend insisted) the following insight occurred:

A new-born baby inhabits a universe which is composed of itself and its mother in an undefined, undifferentiated oneness.
When s/he (the baby) is hungry, there is food. When s/he is wet or cold or fretful, there are clean clothes, warmth and comfort. If this (or a close approximation of it) doesn't happen, then s/he dies, winks out of existence - taking a whole universe away as well.
The first lesson s/he learns is that the universe is not a unity, but composed of two entities, me and mum (whoever the prime carer is). A little time later s/he learns that they are not alone, that there is also 'other than mum and me'. This 'other' slowly grows to encompass other people, things, ideas...txting, googling, programming video recorders...
When in the primal state of oneness, there is no sense of cause and effect. Being hungry does not cause food, or feeling cold cause warmth. The oneness is the need and its fulfillment, in indivisible unity.
A new-born baby is the ultimate ruler, God if you will, of the universe.
From there on it's all downhill.