There is nothing, I mean absolutely nothing in this world that makes me happier than hearing Esmé laugh.
Esmé smiled early on–by only a few weeks old she was making vaguely judging smiles in our direction. By two months she would produce smiles that just took over her entire face, with these smiles would come a breathing pattern that would have been laugher if she could produce much by way of sound…soon followed by the vomit that came every time she was worked up.
It wasn’t until around 11 months old that her laughter was audible. One night André had her in bed with him and out popped a quiet but clear giggle. We both melted and dedicated all of our energy to making her happy enough to produce that sound.
Even a year ago while it was easy to get a giant goofy smile from Ez, laughter was still rare. Once you got her giggling, it was easy to keep going.
Lately, however, it seems like her laughter is just under the surface much of the time (interestingly, much like her annoyance!). She laughs when we tickle her. She laughs while she rolls on the ground nose to nose with a toy, sharing some secret I can only guess at.
She laughs at funny things on her television shows. She laughs at potty humor. She laughs when I use the end of my ponytail to tickle her face. She laughs when I pretend to drop her. She laughs when I pretend I can’t find her…
She laughs and laughs and laughs.
The sound is like a clear bell ringing punctuated by little tiny toddler snorts, pure wiggling motion and joy.
