I made him laugh

in the infrastructure of our family, I am the head of what you might call the 'complaints' department. that is, I handle most of the complaints (aka: whining) filed on behalf of the three humans I love more than anything in this world. in the case of ezra, I am THE go-to person when serious comforting needs to be done. inconsolable and crying? over-tired? coffee table wipe-out? I am super-soother to the rescue! able to calm even the most cantankerous ezra with my super-magical nursing powers and freakish arm strength. I hold and sway, hum and whisper until said complainer is calm and happy, 100% satisfied with services rendered. ward, on the other hand, is in charge of providing the entertainment. seriously? he is a walking cartoon/carnival/vaudeville sideshow with comedic abilities beyond my scope. it's kind of like he has that special whistle that only dogs can hear but instead of the whistle, he uses crazy noises/faces and instead of dogs, it's children (namely his own) that respond so enthusiastically to his repertoire. and I love this about him. after all, he's the one who scored the very first smile from baby e-z. he has also been known to drive ava into daily breathless fits of giggling. this is not to say that I haven't made my kids smile. quite the contrary-- ava and I share all kinds of silly inside jokes and have a very similar (albeit wicked) sense of humor and ezra's grin lights up the joint the moment he sees me walk into the room. it's just that I'm not usually the one who makes them laugh that most beautiful-sounding gutteral laugh. ten months into this gig, and I had yet to make my son really REALLY laugh.

until about a couple of weeks ago. I was giving ezra his lunch and was sort of just playing around, pretending to eat his baby food. I immediately caught his attention as I brought the spoon to my mouth and made a loud gobbling noise. this fake-out scenario was met with loud, uncontrollable baby laughter and incidentally, took me completely by surprise. this wasn't some sweet little obligatory giggle-- it was hardcore and more in the vein of a 'hey-look-at-all-the-oatmeal-and-yogurt-in-my-mouth-wow-I-think-I-might-be-SNORTING' kind of laugh. it was the kind that made his little shoulders shake and forced his mouth wide open (allowing me to see for the first time just how many teeth were starting to push their way through). the sound that came from my son was so undeniably authentic... I really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. actually, I think I passed out. knocked temporarily unconscious by waves of monumental cuteness. finally, I had made him laugh.

today, I discovered that maniacal tap-dancing also has a very similar effect. please believe me when I say that I will gladly hoof myself into a drunken-like stupor if I think it will get a big laugh from my bambinos. I'm not switching departments or anything (I'm good with complaints) but laughter is where it's at.