Smiley Smile
I've got an assignment for you. Go turn on TLC during the daytime hours – preferrably somewhere between 1 and 3. You there? Cool. Start a stopwatch. Now see how long it takes for some well-meaning, over-earnest, imaginary mom to mention BABY'S FIRST SMILE.
Five minutes. And that's being generous.
Of course, now I understand why. Sure, real infant smiles – the ones where they're tugging on those eyebrows and "goo!"ing at you – are undeniably cute. But for me, Asher's smiles have triggered some kind of understanding that this suck-push/food-poop machine is a really, really cool dude.
Seriously, guys. Let's be frank. Attachment and love happens right away. No question. And everyone tells you how important the first few weeks are, how all that crazy clown-like behavior – what with the face-making, the jumping the wubba-wubbas – are helping the bean's brain form all sorts of connections. But then you wonder: when will it start? What will it look like when he stops being a baby and starts being a kid? Will it be a smile? A sigh? A first word? A first step?
Or will it be a game of tongues?
This is all happening sooner than I expected, but it's twice as good.