Laughter, the best medicine.

Many of my fellow bloggers have posts on the general theme of “10 (or 100) things about me”. I don’t have the energy to be so reflective on such a broad scale, but I read one question that I really liked because when I thought about the answer, it brought a smile to my face. The question: What is your favorite sound? My Answer: the sound of my daughters laughing. Notice the plural in that sentence, because yes, Cosette does laugh now. All the time. It is so therapeutic, because how can I not laugh back?

Here are some of the different ways to get Cosette to laugh: blow raspberries on her belly; tickle her tummy and neck and cheeks while making funny noises like "bahbahbahbahboo!"; put her on your outstretched legs and have her fly in and out, side to side (this is a good ab workout, too!). Of course, anything that puts Cosette overhead in relation to yourself will result in drool dribbling onto you, but hey, I've been spit up on, peed on, and even pooped on (the infamous take a bath with your baby debacle) so relatively speaking, a little drool is nothing to worry about. Here is how to get Cosette to stop laughing: try to have her do it in front of anyone else. I don't mean Greg, or her grandparents; I mean other people that you are excitedly showing off in front of; proclamations of "Look, see how happy she is, see how she laughs!" are usually met with thunderous silence.

Cosette is also developing in other endearing ways. I love when I pick her up at the end of the day, and she grabs onto me and hugs me, opening her mouth wide and chewing on my chin- it's Cosette's kiss. It's wet and sticky and it tickles, which makes me laugh, and that makes her laugh too. It must look ridiculous- a 5 month old chewing my chin and giggling while I giggle back. If Juliette is around, she can’t resist getting in on the action, and will run over and ‘bite’ the other side of my face. If Lucy happens to be in the room when all this is going on, she’ll run over and start licking everyone. Then it becomes a real nibbling-licking-laughing fun fest.

Of course, there is always a downside- as Cosette learns how to interact with me, she is also learning how to get what she wants: she is quick to cry if I leave her when she wants my attention, or to complain if she gets bored with the toys she is playing with. Also, she quite frequently yells at me if I don't respond fast enough: she isn't crying, exactly, but loudly protesting and proclaiming her displeasure. She is really a very effective communicator. I would say she gets that from Greg; he would say she gets it from me. Whatever the case, it is easier to deal with her cries because it is easier to identify the root cause. It is all a part of Cosette's developing personality; and even Greg agrees that this is when things start to get fun.