A Child's Laughter

In between the bouts of teething crying, Patrick has shown us that he really can be a sweet boy. Last night he started laughing, not just the giggles he's been doing for ages, but a real belly laugh. It is seriously the sweetest sound I've ever heard. It's so cute that I can't help but laugh with him, which only spurs him on to laugh harder. It all started when I imitated one of his sounds--"Ah-boo"--while shaking my head. He seemed to like it, so I tried it again. Each time he enjoyed it more, finally laughing at me repeatedly. He repeated that again today when I was trying to put him down for a nap. I had to leave his room eventually, and of course he started crying after I left. I went back in to check on him a few minutes later, and as soon as he saw me, he smiled and laughed again. That is a wonderful feeling to know he is so happy to see me that he will laugh, even before I do anything entertaining. It almost makes the full week of teething worth it.

Speaking of that, when will this teething end? I'd assumed it would be a few rough days of crying, then that tooth would break through and we'd have a happy baby again. I figured each subsequent tooth would be less severe because he would be more used to the pain. Of course I knew things could be worse, but I wasn't prepared for the worst case scenario, just what I'd been led to believe was normal. But naturally our baby isn't normal. He has now been teething off and on for over two months, without a tooth in sight yet. At least it's off and on, not constant, but I really can't wait for that first tooth so that maybe, just maybe, the worst of this trauma will end. Or maybe my previous hypothesis will be true: we'll wake up some morning, and Patrick will grin at us with a full set of teeth. They'll all decide to come in at the same time, sparing us having to go through this same ordeal for each tooth.