Day 32: First smile

Tommy is 1 month and 1 day old today. 

It's a gorgeous sunny and warm January day. Forecast for the rest of the week is rain, rain, rain. So, we are taking advantage of the sun laying out on the deck listening to roofers work on our leaky roof and just staring at each other when Tommy breaks into the cutest toothless smile. My first thought is "awww, but this is just one of those accidental smiles". But then omg he smiles two more times!

I text Alex right away: "Babe I swear he just smiled at me. First time I was like ok cute but this isn’t real. But then he did it 2 more times." Exciting, but I am still thinking it's way too early for a smile that means he recognizes me.

After the next nursing session Tommy is all milk-drunk and passed out. I pick up The Philosophical Baby book that we had just gotten at the library that day. I had read about a third of this book when I was pregnant but did not connect with it at all. It felt way too academic and theoretical? But soon after we brought Tommy home from the hospital, I couldn't stop thinking about what research had to say about a baby's consciousness. I was so curious about what life was like from Tommy's point of view.

Anyway, I crack open this book again with a beginners mindset. First sentence of introduction reads: "A one-month-old stares at her mother's face with fixed, brow-wrinkling concentration, and suddenly produces a beatific smile." 

Ahhhh. Did I pick up the right book at the right time or what?