Baby bliss

Laurel has been smiling at us since she was five weeks old, but it wasn't dependable. Whole days would go by when her smiles were only directed at shadows and ceilings, not people. She thought people were interesting, but we weren't that much more interesting than the beams on the ceiling. Over the last five days, however, sometime between seven and eight weeks of age, she has really warmed up to us.

She has clearly became more emotionally connected. She will gaze into my eyes for many minutes at a time, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth. When I make exaggerated faces at her, her smile increases. When I slowly stick out my tongue, she grins, and if I keep doing it, she copies me. When I make funny noises, she gives a kind of chortle, and if I pause while doing it, she'll make noises right back. We can have an entire "conversation," a give-and-take of baby babbling, and it is just about the most blissful experience I can imagine.

Mama: Hi! Hi!
Laurel: Eye! Eye!
Mama: Hi! Hi!
Laurel: Eye! Eye!
Mama: He-llo! He-llo!
Laurel: Ah! Ah!

Anyway, you get the picture. It seriously brings tears to my eyes, but you probably have to be there to find it moving. Maybe not even then. It probably has to be your own kid.

(Maybe I'm enjoying it so much because as an infant Isaac never demonstrated this copying behavior. You won't be surprised to hear that I found this worrying at the time.)

It also seems like Laurel's vision has improved, because she is showing awareness of nearby interesting objects. She has started to stare at mobiles, for instance -- not for very long, but you can almost hear her thoughts: "What's that cool thing hanging there? Has it been there all along? Whoa, it moves a little bit! Oh, wait, is that a ceiling beam up there?"

Suddenly everything is so much fun -- for me as well as for her. I was eating an apple for breakfast this morning while Laurel sat in a bouncy seat at my feet. I leaned down and showed her part of the apple, which I had cut into quarters, and pointed out that it was red on one side and white on the other. She was obviously fascinated and looked intently at it. Then I held it close to her nose so she could smell it, and I could hear her take a deep breath. But she thought watching me actually eat the apple was the most fun of all. She likes to watch people's mouths anyway, so I think she was amused by seeing this engaging red-and-white object disappear bit by bit into my chewing jaws.

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It's worth noting that my blissed-out morning follows a night of excellent sleep. The child slept for nearly seven hours straight last night!