and there was much rejoicing in the land

It's hard to believe people when they tell you that your newborn will grow out of the fussiness he apparently came packaged with when he was born. "Just wait until he's three months," they say. "Everything will be better then." And deep down you know that it will because you've done this before. But when he's six weeks, two months, even two-and-a-half months old, and the only things he gives you are screams and headaches, in all your exhaustion it's hard to remember that the misery will eventually come to an end and your baby will emerge from that uncomfortable cocoon and will be happy. It's a magical thing, really, and the only reason I can tell you this now is because it has been happening at our house.

After three months of adjusting to an existence outside of the womb, Caleb has finally come to terms with his life. He is happy and actually pleasant to be around. It's as if a new baby has come to live at our house. Which isn't to say that things are perfect. He's still human, after all, and as such is prone to the occasional teary meltdown. But the keyword here is occasional. It's no longer a constant part of his personality.

At any rate, here are some things I'm loving about this "new" (and dare I say improved?) Caleb:

- His smiles have been upgraded from "amateur" to "professional." If you say his name or talk to him, he smiles. If you look at him, he smiles. And sometimes, when he's in a good mood and wants the world to know it, he'll sigh contentedly and smile. And these aren't your run-of-the-mill baby smiles either. They're full-blown, eye-twinkling grins, bursting with uncontainable excitement. (The camera hardly does them justice, but I think you get the idea.)



- He has learned to laugh. He doesn't yet do it spontaneously, but in the evenings, during his second wind just before bedtime, he is especially giddy and ticklish. He thinks it's hilarious when we pretend to gobble up his hands, and I think it's hilarious that laughing gives him the hiccups.

- He self-soothes, or maybe it's just a newfound ability to entertain himself, but there is little that makes him happier in his moments of downtime than sucking on his hands. I'm curious to see if, once he develops more control over his own muscles, he'll cut back to just his thumb. But for now, we're all enjoying the digital smorgasbord.

A happy Caleb means better days (and nights) for all of us, which in turn makes it easier for me to be a Mother of Two. Recently I have caught myself having moments where I think, Heck, this two kids thing is great! Let's have buckets of children! Of course, then I remember how difficult pregnancy is and so tone down my giddiness. But even so, it is nice to wake up in the morning not dreading the day ahead of me.