Laughing and rough housing

The kid is so fantastic.

I didn't know you could "rough play" with a (soon to be) 16 week old. Probably because though I've been around a lot of kids in my life, they always belonged to someone else. Not spending enough time with these little ones to really "know them" and not wanting to cause any problems, I always prioritized gentleness and never "pushed it." But this JB kid, he loves to play! And now that he can pretty much hold up his head, I've started to move him more... errr... um... against gravity and stuff.

Slowly these last few weeks, we've been trying to let him see all the ways his body can move, getting more physical at playtime. Tonight, I was "rolling" him over on himself and doing calisthenics with his legs and a sort of wild version of the hokey-pokey... and he laughed and laughed. He is so good natured! He peels into baby babble, smiles, and screeches in laughter.

Also, if he hears or sees us laugh, he laughs back. The other day, we were laying in bed, talking over a sleeping son, and Katy made some quip that cracked me up. She laughed at my chortle and then JB (in his sleep) joined in the laughter. Kt and I looked at each other in disbelief and then peeled into giggles which prompted the still sleeping boy to laugh again. Since then, we've repeated the exercise and it works when he is awake as well.

There is no denying that this child is getting a ton of loving attention, but he seems to have come to us with an amazing personality, ready to laugh and play.

Sigh.

Just like a McD's cheeseburger: "I'm lovin' it."