Learning to Laugh

I've been enthralled by Sydney's growth since before she was projected from the womb, but this latest bit is the biggest crack-up.

Seriously, I would stare in awe at the black and white pictures of the little one growing from the size of a kidney bean to the size of a head of Swiss chard. Though I never did get the food obsession when it comes to size comparisons. We subscribed to BabyCenter.com's updates, and I think the last email that came before Sydney's birth said that she was the size of a leek.

A leek? Really? I understand that it's hard to find a an object that most Americans would be able to relate to, but picking a vegetable most of us probably remember from studying Chaucer doesn't help. How about, "By now, you're baby is about as long as a MacBook Pro." And the heads reading this would nod, "ahhh, I see... 15 inch or 17 inch?"

I digress. Of course. I'm always digressing. Must I now regress?

So, while Sydney was progressing in utero through the various kingdoms, divisions and classes of the culinary world, we were expecting a little human. Thankfully, this is what we got, not a head of Chinese cabbage (week 28).

I guess I should not have been surprised by the fact that she wasn't born fully up to speed, given the fact that she was used to living upside-down in a liquid-filled belly, and we are used to arguing over morning radio and laughing at people who ride Segways. I was still amazed by the things could not do and how she learned to do them. For example, I remember the day that her tear ducts began functioning. A baby's cry is alarming, but with tears streaming down...

It was really enjoyable to watch the smile develop, but the laugh takes the cake (so far). About a week ago, Sydney giggled. Now she'll laugh if you can do something that she really finds amusing. She's a tough critic. Usually she looks at you like Jackie Mason looked at me when he said, "It that the best joke you got?"

Yeah, Jackie Mason said that to me what I was 14 and thought it would be a good joke to bump into him in the cafeteria of a Catskills retreat and drop a bunch of silverware, as if he were trying to steal them. As Alf once said, "I kill me." (Jackie Mason = Mrs. Ochmonek)

Sydney's laugh is taking form... I started to think about the laugh and realized that her laugh will likely stay pretty much the same for her entire life. The pitch will change, of course, but the underlying nature of it will stay the same. Sydney's laugh is a big belly laugh. A "heh-heh" as her stomach bounces. It takes some work to get a laugh... usually when one of us repeats a line from the Great Master, Jim Henson.

"mahna-mahna" is a good one, as is "do-do-dee-oo" from "Rubber Ducky."

She squeels and smiles plenty, but the laugh... working on the video...