Brain Power - Like Father, Like Son

As was alluded to in a pre-delivery post, I have the luxury, or maybe the curse, of a big noggin. Yeah, yeah...drop the ego jokes and think about the sheer circumference of my cranium. I like to tell people that there needs to be that much room to carry around brains like mine, but that has been met with much skepticism. In reality, hats, baseball helmets, you name it, and it likely doesn't fit my head. This "quality" has been the subject of many jokes and even a few inebriated college measurement contests. In fact, the very individual that once challenged me to a late-night "my noggin is surely bigger than yours" contest, Saif, is the very individual that graciously sent me the following chart within hours of Owen's birth. (Note: Saif lost the bet!)

The chart shows the relative percentile of male head size based on age for the first three years of life. Owen, with a current head of nearly 39 centimeters, falls between the 90th and 95th percentile. Way to go kid - already overachieving!

I think Saif sent the chart for a few reasons. First, he sent it to tell Brecken how impressed he was by her resolve in carrying Owen (& his head). Second, he sent it to give me a hard time, and third, he sent it to confirm that this kid is most definitely, without a doubt, my own.

Of course, as a student that looks at far too many graphs these days, this chart was cause for a little bit of concern. As you can see in the above graph, the rate of increase in head size is rather large in the first six months of life, followed by a steady decline in the rate of change. This is eerily like the following graph from my economics class, depicting the diminishing return of marginal utility.

I have taken the liberty of plotting both Owen (growing intelligent boy) and myself (diminishing utility 30 yr old). My concern is that as my head continues to grow, which it most definitely is during my investment in business school, I'm apparently getting less and less out of every ounce of growth. Does this mean that I am actually acquiring less useful space in my brain with every day that goes by? How can that be.

I posed this question to Brecken, as though her opinion is purely objective, and after a brief hesitation, she explained that there has been reason for worry in the past few weeks. She wasn't going to say anything, but she has been very concerned about my behavior. At times, it feels as though she has two kids rather than one around the house.

I don't know what she is talking about. The way I see it, she is surrounded by two good looking guys with a lot of brain power. Like Father, Like Son.