Smiling

Liam is only now learning the art of smiling, and it's probably the coolest thing he's done to this point. He's a generally nice baby but he has seemed so serious up to this point. Considering his father's jovial attitude towards most things, it always seemed weird that Liam didn't just shoot out of the womb with a huge grin on his toothless face.

But no, we earn these smiles through trial and error. Sometimes, just appearing after not being around him for a while will inspire a pleasant smirk. Other times, tickling his belly while goading him on ("Does Liam have a smile for daddy?") is all that's necessary. Sometimes you can sit in front of him trying to get a smile for 40 minutes, only to have your spouse simply walk into the room and cause him to beam with happiness.

Regardless of the reason, Alison and I are now addicted to making him smile. Even the fussiest gas face can be mistaken for a smile in our desperate attempts to see the next one. Alison had an especially hilarious encounter this morning, when she hovered over Liam anticipating a smile. He stuck out his face, opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth twisted, then BLART!!! He filled his diaper with a sound so unexpectedly loud that we both locked eyes for a quiet moment before bursting into laughter.

Anyway, we will obviously continue to document the growth of his emotions (spoiler: he's mastered fussy) but expect more updates about his smiles because that's the stuff we're most interested in as well.

Brad