Avery Merchant Bleiberg, first daughter to Ekem and Nicholas, was born last night, the latest in a long line of Taureans to enter my life. I was fortunate enough to hold her within her first 24 hours of life, something I wasn't able to do with my niece Naomi. What a strange feeling. Such a small, unknowable creature, simultaneously fragile and formidable, dependent and completely self-possessed. I was also witness to several of the strange rituals surrounding newly minted motherhood. I go...