Smiles, smiles everywhere

I have to say that this whole smile thing really is nice. Yesterday morning (after the cranky smurf night) Emmett was all smiles when he was being changed effortlessly erasing the tiredness that an adult feels first thing in the morning. In fact (don't tell Andrea), I was so excited at the prospect of a repeat performance before I went to work this morning that I got Emmett out of bed even though he wasn't really to the super-squirmy level where he lets us know that it is time to get the show on the road. He was awake enough that it wasn't going to be long anyways so I took him to change his diaper and Andrea probably lost 10 minutes of sleep (hopefully if she gets word of this she is understanding). However, I learned this morning that the really happy Emmett doesn't appear until he has had his first movement, but once he did he was smiling from chubby cheek to chubby cheek. It definitely makes going to work in the morning much easier having a couple of baby smiles under one's belt (Andrea just sent out a sample, so I am putting it up at left). Oh, and I didn't even point it out to Andrea, but last night Emmett seemed to not only recognize me when I got home from work but to also be genuinely excited (where he gets all shaky and smiley). That was good stuff, too, even if I am just imagining it.

We tried a little white noise last night with Emmett. When we were at Jeff's birthday party on Saturday Emmett slept through the entire thing (we were there from 12-4ish, I believe) and we were convinced that part of the reason was that there was a pretty constant level of party noise that masked any louder or sharper noises that occurred. So, having had cranky baby the night before, we brought out a white noise generator which Emmett slept soundly next to in the living room from 8-11, or so, last night, and then I brought it to bed and played it for the three of us. He had a pretty average night's sleep, but I think that it was good for Andrea and I in some ways as it makes the noises of people going through the trash, cat fights, etc. a little less noticeable. It took me a while to go to sleep with it as my fears that I wasn't going to hear his pleas for attention made me check him quite frequently.

I realize I didn't mention (until a paragraph ago) the fun birthday party for Jeff which we attended on Saturday where we got to learn that Jeff and Luisa have many friends with kids. There was a whole smattering of child ages there from Emmett at the low end to four years or so. It was especially great to see the two 10-month-olds that were there and know that the level of interaction with Emmett is going to shoot through the roof in the next eight months. For now, though, even the addition of more smiles has been really good. We are easily pleased.