Smiler

When D was little, she always had these big, round, curious eyes; it was by far her defining feature. So far Baby A seems to be known for his amazing grin. Seriously, if he's not hungry or tired (or bothered by a bodily function), he is one happy baby. His smile is so enthusiastic, so unabashed and genuine, so enormous that it's like a full-body reaction. It makes people laugh. When he's lying on his change table, or lounging on our laps, or looking up at us from his little seat - if his eyes meet our face, he smiles. It's awesome.

It's interesting to gage his vision this way. That is, we can tell that sometimes we're just slightly beyond his visual range because he seems to be searching with his eyes. And if we move a bit closer, he sees us and breaks into a smile. It's also interesting to think about what this means in terms of his development as an infant. I mean, babies need to be able to cry from birth so that we will tend to them, and A can certainly cry if he needs to. But these little creatures have to learn to smile. At first, smiling is a lot about imitation, I suppose, but there must be so much work going on in his head to connect that imitative muscular response with real feelings of security, recognition and happiness.

Here's how immediate and instinctive his smile is: sometimes at bedtime, after he has fallen asleep in my arms I put him down in his little co-sleeper bed right beside our bed. If he's not quite ready to be put down, he opens his eyes instantly and gives me a big smile. I pick him up again, look down immediately, and his eyes are closed again. He's back to sleep.

:)