What's so funny?

Babies pretty much all start out as lumps of clay, as Jeff would say. (Yes, he is quite the poet, I know...) We wait for Harper to learn, move or do something new every day. It wasn't too long ago when our hearts were tickled by the sight of her first real smile. Granted, the I'm asleep and drunk off the milky goodness-smile is a sweet sight, but you can't beat a true smile shining on the face of your own kid. Once she had the smiling business down pat, we anxiously awaited her first bouts of laughter. The ever prophetic babycenter.com e-mails suggested that a three-month-old baby is ripe for the beginnings of laughter, so we had hope it would occur at any moment.

I first heard Harper laugh for a brief, tiny moment nearly ten days ago. We had just arrived at a friend's house in Pflugerville, and I was unloading Harper from her car seat. My friend, Kim, has twin (almost) two-year-olds, Christopher and Kiersten, that were curious to check out Harper. I crouched down to the ground with her to better aid their rigorous inspection process. Of course, Harper liked them both, but she seemed particularly mesmerized by Kiersten. The Punkster was turning on the charm, big time! She broke out a huge grin, and then she actually laughed! (I think she has hopes that they can be good friends one day!)

Jeff chose not to believe me until he heard it with his own ears. Unfortunately, she was stingy with the laughs and wouldn't give us another. Grandma told us Harper laughed one day last week, but neither of us were lucky enough to be invited to the show! Finally, last night, out of nowhere... Harper gave us several minutes of continuous, beautiful, and silly laughter! Jeff and I were elated at the sound of it. She may simply have been laughing at the fact that her parents are idiots, but we'll take whatever we can get! :)

I am comforted by the fact that something as simple as a baby's laugh can put me over the moon in love. I am constantly reminded how blessed I am with Jeff and Harper. They both give me reasons to smile and laugh every day. Who could ask for anything more?