The first smile

Ryan, my nephew, smiled for the first time today.  Valentine's Day, 2013.  What a perfect Valentine for  Becca.  She tried to capture it on camera and send me the video, but Ryan was being stingy.  That smile was reserved for his mama and no one else.  Needless to say, Becca is thrilled.  And, like any new mom, thinks it's too good to be true.  It must be gas, or perhaps a reflex.  He's six weeks old.  He couldn't actually be socially smiling, could he?  But, it seems like he's responding to her face, so maybe.  I assured her babies smile at all different ages, the average being around 8 weeks, but perhaps Ryan wanted to give her that gift today.

Evie 2/14/13, Bubbles music class

I can remember the first time Evie smiled.  She was 9 weeks old.  There had been glimpses of smiles beforehand, but nothing like the full on "I recognize my mom and dad and am so happy to see them" smile.  It made all those nights of screaming and bouncing on the ball worth it.  From that point forward, Will and I did everything we could think of to elicit another smile.  If there was a camera on us, we'd certainly have won some money from America's Funniest Home Videos.  I wish I could recall all that we did, but I know it was borderline insane.  I would run to Will every time I thought another smile was on its way, interrupting his work day just so he could see it.  When he traveled, I took pictures and videos, sending them throughout the day.

A few weeks later came that first giggle.  Wow.  And we thought smiling was cool.  We starting tickling poor Evie all the time.

Now she's crawling around, singing and clapping at music class, shaking rattles and pushing a musical walker.  But the giggles and smiles continue to be the highlight of each experience.