Miles of Smiles

A couple of months ago, some friends with a new baby mentioned that once their son began to smile, they spent most waking moments trying to create conditions favorable to further grins and toothless smirks. Now we know where they're coming from.

I think especially after all the newborn crying, when she smiles it's like a powerful antidote to the night time crying spells.

Of course, since she's just figuring out this smiling business, it can arrive at odd times. She seemed pretty pleased, for example, as I changed a particularly messy diaper. What's different lately, though, is that smiles show up during her short bursts of play. At this stage, play is usually defined as her following an object, such as a rattle, as we shake it in front of her mug. Her other favorite is lying beneath the ceiling fan while we chat playfully to her, and we sometimes receive coos and ahs in response.

Of course, there's no shortage of fussing and crying yet. My latest frustration is that she'll settle down and nap if I tote her about. If I try to sit for more than a few minutes, however, she'll wake and fuss. If I get up to walk again, she falls back asleep. Perhaps she's trying to work off the extra pounds daddy has acquired from being around the house and refrigerator so often. Perhaps she's just yanking my chain. Either way, I find it quite irritating. Just now Lisa relieved me and she went fast asleep in her arms as Lisa enjoyed an Ellen rerun. Turns out the joke is on Mom, however: John McCain was the featured guest.

Today Mom and Dad tried to be bold and go to a matinee. Lisa has been wanting to see the Pineapple Express, the stoner action comedy from the Judd Apatow gang. Plus today has been forcast as the hottest day of the year, so far.

We bought our tickets and settled in. Marcus theaters have bench seats that work well with a car seat. Just as Lisa was chomping on the second half of her sandwich from lunch, an employee came to explain that babies aren't allowed into R rated films. The gave us both a refund and free passes. It probably worked out for the best since there was no way Anna would keep quiet for 90 minutes. Now we can hire a sitter and use our free passes to see it and relax at the same time.

Instead of a movie, we made a trip to Target for diapers and milk. Plenty of air conditioning there, too.